Coca-Cola bottles are seen at a store in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on Jan. 28, 2025.
Firdous Nazir | Nurphoto | Getty Pictures
Coca-Cola will shift extra of its packaging from aluminum to plastic bottles if President Donald Trump implements his newest wave of tariffs, CEO James Quincey mentioned Tuesday.
“Because it pertains to our methods round guaranteeing affordability and guaranteeing shopper demand, if one package deal suffers some enhance in enter prices, we proceed to produce other packaging choices that may enable us to compete within the affordability area,” Quincey mentioned on the corporate’s earnings convention name. “For instance, if aluminum cans turn out to be costlier, we are able to put extra emphasis on PET [plastic] bottles, and many others.,” Quincey added.
Trump on Monday raised tariffs on all aluminum and metal imports to 25% from 10%, beginning subsequent month. The motion is broadly seen as taking intention at China, though the U.S. imports little metal instantly from the nation.
Quincey downplayed the monetary hit for Coca-Cola from the tariffs, though he mentioned on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Road” that the corporate buys some aluminum from Canada.
“I believe we’re in peril of exaggerating the affect of the 25% enhance within the aluminum worth relative to the full system,” Quincey mentioned on the convention name. “It isn’t insignificant, however it’s not going to transform a multibillion-dollar U.S. enterprise, and packaging is barely a small part of the full price construction,” the CEO added.
Along with shifting to extra plastic packaging, Coca-Cola also can blunt the consequences of duties on its enterprise by discovering home aluminum sources and rising the worth for patrons, Quincey added.
Aluminum is mostly costlier than plastic, however additionally it is infinitely recyclable and one of the generally recycled supplies. In recent times, the corporate has shifted to including extra aluminum packaging choices, corresponding to canned Dasani and Smartwater.
PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, is a light-weight plastic that may be simply recycled however is recycled at a decrease charge than aluminum. The recycling charge of PET bottles and jars was 29.1% in 2018, in contrast with the recycling charge of aluminum beer and tender drink cans at 50.4% in the identical 12 months, in keeping with information from the Environmental Safety Company.
Whilst Coca-Cola has tried to make use of extra aluminum, the corporate has been named the world’s worst polluter by Greenpeace for six straight years for its single-use plastic utilization.
Simply two months in the past, Coca-Cola slashed its sustainability targets. The beverage large now goals to make use of 35% to 40% recycled materials in packaging by 2035, down from its prior goal of fifty% recycled materials by 2030. The corporate additionally mentioned it desires to “guarantee the gathering” of 70% to 75% of the equal variety of bottles and cans it introduces yearly, slightly than recycling the plastic equal of each bottle it makes use of by 2030.