Convert Your Empties Into Eco-Friendly Goodies This Festival Season

Friday, June 10, 2011

Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE) is attending the Isle of Wight Festival for a second year running, bringing to the event its innovative recycling solution, which allows music fans to dispose of their empty plastic bottles so that they can be converted into eco-friendly festival essentials.

With the weather set to scorch, over 80,000 bottles of soft drinks are likely to be consumed as festival goers enjoy the music and entertainment. The Isle of Wight Festival aims to host their most eco-friendly festival to date, so CCE is returning to the event with its award winning1 recycling initiative: Swap for Swag.

At the Swap for Swag shops, music fans can swap their empty plastic bottles for limited edition festival essentials made out of recycled PET.2 Up for grabs will be equipment including rain ponchos, picnic blankets and (a rare site at festivals) clean teeshirts!

Volunteers from CCE, vinspired and ECO Plastics will be manning 30 recycling points around the festival ground to make it as easy as possible for festival goers to recycle, wherever they are on the site.

Coca-Cola Enterprises' Recycling Director, Patrick McGuirk said: "Coca-Cola Enterprises is committed to making recycling easier and more engaging for consumers. Following the huge success of last year's Swap for Swag shop, where 20,000 festival goers visited us to swap 92,340 PET bottles for 9,000 items of limited edition festival swag, we're excited to be back for another year.

"It's not just about recycling at the festival, it's about inspiring people to recycle every bottle, every can, every day. We want to show people what a difference recycling can make and the festival environment is a great place to spread this sustainability message."

And it doesn't stop there; in partnership with Biffa and Every Can Counts, all aluminium cans that are collected will be converted into money, to help fund the local charity, Haylands Farm.

CCE's Swap for Swag shop will be rolled out at other major music festivals this summer, including:

• T4 on the Beach, Weston super Mare - 10 July
• Underage Festival, Victoria Park, London - 5 August
• V Festival, Staffordshire - 20-21 AugustSuper Saturday
• Clapham Common, London - 10 September

CCE aims to give all PET plastic bottles a second life - to take used plastic back, wash it, break it down and turn it into new PET bottles for the next round of festivities. CCE is committed to recover the equivalent of 100 per cent of its packaging by 2020.  In support of CCE's sustainability goals, the Swap for Swag baler and production office are powered by a solar generator and panels.

Notes to editors

Coca-Cola Enterprises' won the Best Sponsor Activation award at the UK Festival Awards 2010 for its Recycling Programme.

2PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) is a recyclable plastic that is commonly used for carbonated beverage and water bottles.

For further information please contact Elisabeth Middlemas or Ben Jenkins at 3 Monkeys Communications on cocacolaenterprises@3-monkeys.co.uk / 01895 844 828.

About Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. is the world's third-largest independent Coca-Cola bottler. CCE is the sole licensed bottler for products of The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) in Belgium, continental France, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.

In Great Britain (GB) Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE) employs around 4,500 people across England, Scotland and Wales at manufacturing sites, regional offices and depots.

CCE is committed to minimising the environmental impact of its products and operations, with a particular focus on sustainable packaging and recycling, water stewardship, and energy and climate protection.

Six of CCE's manufacturing sites meet ISO14001 certification, the highest international standard for environmental management. CCE has reduced its energy usage ratio across manufacturing operations in GB by 21% since 2001 and more than 99% of waste at sites is now recovered or recycled.

All of CCE's glass bottles are 100% recyclable and contain an average of 30% recycled materials; all plastic bottles are made from PET (polyethylene teraphthalate) and are 100% recyclable, and all CCE cans are made from 100% recyclable aluminium and contain around 50% recycled aluminium.

CCE calculates and publishes the CO2 emissions resulting from the manufacture and distribution of all its brands, and in 2007 CCE partnered with the Carbon Trust to measure all greenhouse gas emissions embodied within selected products in the portfolio. For further information please visit www.cokecce.co.uk.

ECO Plastics - a plastics recycling company, ECO Plastics and CCE recently announced a joint venture to develop a new purpose built recycling facility in Lincolnshire. The deal marks a step change in the GB plastic reprocessing industry, which will more than double the UK's ability to re-use drinks bottles.

vinspired v, the national young volunteers service, is an independent charity dedicated to helping young people volunteer in ways that matter to them.

Every Can Counts - a partnership between drink can manufacturers, the recycling industry and leading waste management companies which aims to encourage people to recycle their aluminium cans wherever and whenever possible.

Haylands Farm - a day centre unit providing training, education and work experience for people with a learning disability.