Beverages major Coca-Cola India has partnered with grocery delivery service, Zepto, for a ‘return and recycle’ initiative for PET bottles. According to a joint statement, the initiative seeks to establish an organized process of collection of PET bottles with 100 per cent traceability, to ensure effective plastic waste management.
Consumers can access the ‘Return PET Bottles’ feature on the Zepto app, where they can opt to return up to four empty PET bottles across any brand. The bottles will then be collected by Zepto riders during delivery. The initiative has been launched in select locations in Mumbai and will further be scaled to other markets in India soon, the statement added. Zepto has already been leading a movement for paper bag collection on its app where customers have the option to help reuse bags by returning them to the delivery partner.
According to Coca-Cola India, the company’s partnership with Zepto in India aims to create a circular economy for plastic by connecting all participants in the PET recycling value chain. “Leveraging the Zepto two-wheeler distribution network, Coca-Cola India seeks to ‘collect back’ empty PET bottles of any brand from consumers. ”
Greishma Singh, Vice President, Customer & Commercial Leadership, India & Southwest Asia Operating Unit, The Coca-Cola Company, said that the team at Coca-Cola, is continually leveraging their scale and reach across markets to reduce waste pollution and achieve the set sustainability goals. As per Singh, this innovative partnership with Zepto provides a great platform to generate awareness, influence behavior, and encourage consumers to recycle PET bottles in a super convenient way from the comfort of their homes. “We hope this partnership will enhance consumers’ inclusion in the path towards a more sustainable, better, shared future,” said Singh.
Vinay Dhanani, Chief Operating Officer at Zepto, said that Zepto users have an eco-conscious mindset where they have consistently expressed their interest and passion towards sustainability. Dhanani added that he sees an opportunity in leveraging the expertise to contribute to environment-friendly initiatives. “On the back of our last-mile delivery network in Mumbai, we have been able to seamlessly integrate with this initiative that ensures effective plastic waste management. As one of India’s youngest and fastest growing startups, Zepto is excited to be a part of a collective change with Coca-Cola India that enables and inspires customers to make an impact.”
