Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages, a local Coca-Cola bottler serving Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York City, and WestRock a supplier of sustainable paper and packaging solutions, will collaborate to implement a paperboard carrier that replaces plastic rings for its multipack bottled beverages.
The move by the bottler is yet another example in an ongoing trend of large beverage brands and their packaging partners/bottlers making the switch from plastic-based to paper-based multipacks in a variety of applications. Most recently, Coca-Cola bottler HBC in Austria made the switch to paper-based multipacks. PepsiCo announced a similar move in Canada in August 2023. And Liberty itself switched to paperboard for its mini-can lines.
Packaging World covered this mini-can paper=based multipack applicationwhen it rolled out in 2022. The bottler worked withGraphic Packaging International(GPI) and it's Keel-Clip pack format on that project.
In this set of Liberty applications, WestRock’s PETCollar Shield Plus paper-based packaging will be used at Liberty’s Philadelphia production facility to package Coca-Cola’s top brands in multipacks. The 12-oz (355-mL) and 16.9-oz (500-mL) products packaged with the durable, easy-to-hold carriers will be distributed throughout Liberty’s multi-state territory. Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages will be the first bottler in the world to implement the PETCollar Shield Plus bottle clip solution, the company says..
“We’ve made it our mission to invest in technology that produces recyclable beverage containers that can return to our system while significantly reducing the need for secondary plastic packaging,” says Fran McGorry, co-owner of Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages. “We know the most valuable change to reduce plastic waste occurs when bottlers and packaging producers work together. We are proud to partner with WestRock to make this change.”
Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages expects to have the new paperboard carrier packaging system installed and operating by summer 2024. Once installed, the packaging system will add to the local bottler’s paperboard packaging for mini-cans, implemented in 2022 as mentioned above. Both packaging systems combined are expected to replace 200,000 pounds of plastic a year from Liberty’s footprint. 
Liberty's most recent switch to paperboard before this week's announcement was for six packs of mini-cans in 2022.
PETCollar Shield Plus is a paperboard multipack carrier and part of WestRock’s PETCollar™ product family, which includes multipack clip solutions in a variety of sizes, designs and configurations for bundled bottles.
“Our partners at Liberty Coca-Cola continue to push the boundaries by promoting secondary packaging alternatives to plastic throughout their operations while meeting the diverse needs of their consumer base,” says Sam Shoemaker, president, Consumer Packaging, WestRock. “We share their commitment to innovation and look forward to supporting their ambitious sustainability goals.”
Committing to implement the PETCollar Shield Plus packaging is the latest move Liberty Coca- Cola Beverages is making to advance its sustainability efforts. Along with being the first bottler in the United States to replace plastic rings for mini-cans, Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages was among the first Coca-Cola bottlers to produce and distribute bottles made from 100% recycled plastic (excluding cap and label) in the United States. It has also installed a sustainable compacter that significantly reduces the bottler’s carbon footprint and processes large volumes of full plastic and aluminum containers for recycling.
“We are passionate about making investments in the communities we serve,” adds Paul Mulligan, co-owner of Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages. “We truly care about the environment, and we will continue to invest in systems that raise the bar for the entire industry. We want to lead by example and do the right thing.” PW
