Creating a World Without Waste: The Coca-Cola Company Teams Up with Bill Nye to Demystify Recycling in Striking Animation

Produced by Award-Winning Animators Mackinnon & Saunders, Short Film Shines Light on Often-Perplexing Process of Bottle-to-Bottle Recycling

As science educator Bill Nye always says, “It’s not magic, it’s science!” And now he’s helping to show the magic – and the science – behind recycling.

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The Coca-Cola Company teams up with Bill Nye to demystify recycling. (Photo: Business Wire)

Today, The Coca-Cola Company teams up with Bill Nye to unveil an animated, stop-motion short film that illustrates the holistic recycling process. The film breaks down the ins-and-outs of plastic recycling for viewers to demystify the process, with the ultimate goal of inspiring action.

“As we know, we need to reuse plastic," says Bill Nye. “That’s why I’m partnering with The Coca-Cola Company to show the science behind the process of recycling and how we can continue to address the global plastic waste crisis, together.”

Produced for The Coca-Cola Company by Mackinnon & Saunders, the award-winning animators and puppeteers behind Fantastic Mr. Fox, Corpse Bride and more, the film features an animated -- and recycled -- version of Nye who explains the end-to-end recycling process. As Nye narrates the process in his dynamic and engaging style, the content takes viewers on the circular journey of a plastic bottle, starting from the time it’s placed in a recycling bin to it coming back on the shelf as a 100% recycled bottle (excluding cap and label).

While roughly 59% of Americans have access to curbside recycling¹, 27% of plastic bottles are currently recycled² in the U.S. The Coca-Cola Company wants to help change that.

One of the company’s goals as part of its World Without Waste sustainable packaging initiative is to collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one it sells by 2030. The company is also committed to making 100% of its packaging recyclable by 2025 and using at least 50% recycled material in its packaging by 2030. This new film highlights that recycling is critical to “closing the loop” – using and reusing the materials in plastic bottles again and again.

“We recognize our responsibility to help address the world’s plastic waste crisis and to help create a closed loop economy, but we can’t do it alone,” says Christine Yeager, Director, Sustainability at The Coca-Cola Company North America. “And who better than Bill Nye to help inspire everyone to understand, think, feel, and behave differently about recycling. Still, there’s much more that needs to be done – which is why we’re also advocating for well-designed collection policy, funding infrastructure, and creating greater economic demand for recycled content. But Step One is collecting and recycling our bottles.”

Creatively, the approach to the film was not just about visualizing this process, but also reflected the use of recycled materials throughout. Beyond the recycled puppet of Nye, packaging materials from Coca-Cola packaging, including plastic bottles, labels and cardboard were incorporated into every aspect of the short. Trees were made by reusing Sprite labels and conveyor belts designed from recyclable cardboard, creating a film that embodies recycling, design and function.

Fans can watch the World Without Waste film at CokeURL.com/ClosedLoop. Recycling programs vary from community to community. To learn about recycling programs in your local community, visit How2Recycle.info.

About The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a total beverage company with products sold in more than 200 countries and territories. Our company’s purpose is to refresh the world and make a difference. We sell multiple billion-dollar brands across several beverage categories worldwide. Our portfolio of sparkling soft drink brands includes Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta. Our hydration, sports, coffee and tea brands include Dasani, smartwater, vitaminwater, Topo Chico, BODYARMOR, Powerade, Costa, Georgia, Gold Peak, Honest and Ayataka. Our nutrition, juice, dairy and plant-based beverage brands include Minute Maid, Simply, innocent, Del Valle, fairlife and AdeS. We’re constantly transforming our portfolio, from reducing sugar in our drinks to bringing innovative new products to market. We seek to positively impact people’s lives, communities and the planet through water replenishment, packaging recycling, sustainable sourcing practices and carbon emissions reductions across our value chain. Together with our bottling partners, we employ more than 700,000 people, helping bring economic opportunity to local communities worldwide. Learn more at www.coca-colacompany.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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