Coca-Cola Launches New “Lift Up” Cardboard Packaging to Cut Plastic Waste

New Lift Up Packaging Marks Coca-Colas Major Step Toward Circular, Low-Impact Bottling

Coca-Cola, a popular brand for decades, has launched a new initiative focused on sustainability. The Coca-Cola European bottling network has emerged as a major packaging name this year, with its taste and name resonating with customers shift in demand. Sustainable innovation will be noticeable at first sight, just as shoppers first-sight love for this brand. The brand is promoting sustainability through its six-pack packaging.

Recently, Coca-Cola HBC, the companys main bottling partner in Europe, and its Sicilian bottler Sibeg have commercialized an impressive innovation that replaces plastic, shrink wrap, and heavy shrink film with fiber-based handles, smoother bottling lines, and recycled plastics. This initiative is engineered to reduce tons of plastic and precisely mitigate water and energy use, while securely retaining the existing familiar Fanta, Sprite, and Coke brands in consumers hands.

One business outlet, TheStreet, has precisely described the significant changes that have led to a massive shift to cardboard and paper packaging in Coke 1.5-litre multipacks. This shift is expected to save around 220 tons of plastic once the transition is complete. Coca-Cola has been flashing across every headline of the article, not just describing a legacy but a sustainable shift initiated throughout its evaluation and Sicilian bottling revamp, which indicated a massive transition in soda sustainability.

The Lift Up is a full-fledged recyclable cardboard carrier and handle engineered to replace hazardous plastic shrink wrap, which typically holds around 1.5-liter soda multipacks. The packaging and paper company that established the system with machinery maker Krones and Coca-Cola HBC Austria describes Lift Up as a corrugated cardboard handle, a 100% recyclable promise for sustainability.

The hold feels soft and ergonomic, leaving shoppers comfortable carrying their favorite Coca-Cola six-packs. Its compatibility with various bottle formats and sizes, beyond a single SKU, demonstrates the effort and time invested in this sustainable innovation.

The trial for the same started in Austrian supermarkets in 2023, later Lift Up again received applause and was highlighted as Coca-Cola best and first of its kind alternative, bringing this idea into the packaging operation. As this year comes to an end, Coca-Cola has proved and retained its position not just as a brand but as a champion of sustainable packaging, having promoted it twice.