ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Coca-Cola said it has created a beverage bottle made from 100% plant-based plastic, excluding the cap and label. Dubbed “PlantBottle,” the bottle looks, functions and recycles like traditional PET but has a lighter footprint on the planet and its resources. A limited run of about 900 of the prototype bottles has been produced.

“We have been working with technology partners for many years to develop the right technologies to create a bottle with 100% plant-based content—aiming for the lowest possible carbon footprint—and it’s exciting that we have reached a point where these technologies exist and can be scaled by participants in the value chain,” said Nancy Quan, chief technical and innovation officer, The Coca‑Cola Company.

Coca-Cola's new prototype plant-based bottle is made from plant-based paraxylene (bPX)—using a new process by Virent—which has been converted to plant-based terephthalic acid (bPTA). The bPX for this bottle was produced using sugar from corn.

“Our goal is to develop sustainable solutions for the entire industry,” said Dana Breed, global R&D director, packaging and sustainability, The Coca-Cola Company. “We want other companies to join us and move forward, collectively. We don’t see renewable or recycled content as areas where we want competitive advantage.”

As part of its World Without Waste vision, Coca-Cola is working to make all its packaging more sustainable, including maximizing use of recycled and renewable content while minimizing use of virgin, fossil material. The company has pledged to collect back the equivalent of every bottle it sells by 2030, so none of its packaging ends up as waste and old bottles are recycled into new ones; to make 100% of its packaging recyclable; and to ensure 50% of its packaging comes from recycled material.