Properly disposing of your PET bottles reduces pollution and the emission of greenhouse gases, since the treatment and recycling of this material allows the manufacture of new containers or use it to manufacture textiles and other products.
In Mexico, more than 50% of the PET generated is collected and recycled; to give an example, according to ECOCE, an environmental civil association that promotes the proper management of packaging waste in our country, in 2020 around 2 million tons of recyclable waste from containers and packaging were recovered, among which PET bottles of water or soft drinks stand out.
To get an idea of what this figure implies, ECOCE explained that these materials would occupy a space similar to that of 60 Azteca stadiums, while their recycling meant a saving of 44,000 million liters of water (with which they would fill 12,000 Olympic swimming pools) and energy of 26,000 million kilowatt-hours (which is enough to illuminate 12,000 million houses with saving lights for 17 hours in a day).
Despite the fact that our country is one of the leaders in the collection and recycling of PET, in percentage terms, important efforts are still required to ensure that all bottles and containers of this material can be collected and recycled properly.
Therefore, the Mexican Coca-Cola Industry is in the constant search and implementation of strategies to contribute to achieving a World Without Waste and since mid-October, the installation of packaging containers in various small stores around the country began.
This is the Initiative My Store Without Waste, whose objective is to encourage customers to recycle in their shops, through signage, posters and banners with indications to correctly deposit their empty PET containers, thus contributing to promote a culture of recycling in favor of a better planet, while boosting the sales of these small businesses.
THE PROGRAM
It is expected that, by the end of this 2021, there will be at least 400 small shops that will be equipped with a container for customers to deposit all their empty PET bottles, of any brand, these can be identified by their mint-colored facades.
The most important thing is that citizens can consult on this map the little shops that are part of this program, as well as those that will be added, so that they can take their PET containers to the closest to their home so that they can be treated and recycled.
For now, the stores that have adopted the program are located in 10 entities: Campeche, Mexico City, Colima, Culiacán, Guadalajara, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Pachuca, Quintana Roo, Tijuana, Toluca, Torreón and Yucatán.
By 2022, there is an expansion plan for this program so that there are many small stores transformed into collection points, in order to encourage customers and neighbors of the colony to recycle their bottles to give more than one shelf life to each one.
Photo: Special
The recycling information seen in small shops reminds consumers of the four simple steps to recycling: empty, crush, close and deposit.
“The main reason for My Waste-Free Shop is that both the planet and my community are free of pollution. It cost us a little more at the beginning, but currently we no longer have to tell people to deposit their garbage, now they make it roll and deposit it,” said Norberto Rivera, owner of Vinos y Abarrotes Aries, in Pachuca, Hidalgo.
EVERYONE WINS
Mi Tienda Sin Residuos aims to collect approximately 2,000 kg of PET per month, which will be processed in its food-grade PET recycling plants. Participating are PetStar, the largest in the world, and IMER, the first in Latin America and which together has the capacity to process more than 4,100 million bottles, which are equivalent to 85 thousand tons of PET.
At the same time, it is expected that this initiative will generate benefits for shopkeepers such as an increase in sales, since the purchase intention can increase by approximately 10% in each little store that has the program and generate greater customer traffic, since small shops are a very important point of social convergence.
This program is part of the IMCC’s support for the country’s small shops that provide sustenance to more than 3 million families that depend on these businesses.
On the occasion of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mexican Coca-Cola Industry promoted various measures of integral support to this sector with an investment of 5,000 million pesos for its maintenance and facades, in addition to 190,000 credits to reactivate the economy of its owners, distributed more than 500,000 health protection equipment to work safely, and training for more than 180,000 women shopkeepers to reinforce their skills, which will allow them to better manage their business and cope with this health crisis. By 2021, the goal is to train 25,000 women in 14 entities in the country.
The IMCC also continues to multiply efforts to achieve a #MundoSinResiduos as part of its commitment to the environment, which consists of promoting a more sustainable production and consumption model in which each PET bottle enters a circular economy cycle to become a new bottle.
The IMCC’s commitment for 2030 is to collect and recycle the equivalent of 100% of all the packaging it puts on the market, in addition to all its packaging being manufactured with at least 50% recycled materials.
Photo: Special
In 2019, the Mexican Coca-Cola Industry added two goals for 2025: to make 100% of its packaging recyclable and to have a portfolio composed of at least 50% returnable packaging.
Do not forget that as a consumer you can also be part of this effort. For this, the IMCC puts at your disposal several returnable bottles, which can be used up to 25 times to then be recycled (which are collected in the same establishments that are part of its traditional sales channel).
Recently, the Mexican Coca-Cola Industry announced the investment of almost 11,000 million pesos to strengthen the returnability, recycling and collection chains.
