The new practical tethered cap "Bankia" mineral water bottle won the company an award at the fourteenth edition of the National Competition for the best packaging
The new, more practical, and functional attached cap design of “Bankia" mineral water received well-deserved recognition at the "Prize Pack 2022" awards organized by the Food Processing Industry Magazine. At the fourteenth edition of the National Competition for Best Packaging, The Coca-Cola System in Bulgaria was awarded for the introduction of the first “tethered” cap bottle in the country, which was announced at the beginning of the year. This innovation aims to aid the collection and recycling of plastic bottles and caps and make them easier to recycle and is just the first step by the company in meeting the provisions in the EU Directive on reducing the environmental impact of plastic products.
"Thank you for the award! To us, it constitutes one more recognition of the efforts and dedication of our entire team. As the country's largest soft drinks manufacturer, the Coca-Cola System's main drive is to ensure that every part of our business is built sustainably to be effective not only today but in the future. The sustainability journey is a long one, but in the past year alone we have achieved two of our important 2025 targets ahead of schedule - 100% of our packaging is now recyclable and we have reduced direct carbon emissions from our operations by 30%," stated Iva Mihova-Mitrovska, Public and Regulatory Affairs Manager at Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria, at the occasion of the award.
"We are proud to have been the first in the country to introduce the new “tethered” caps to our “Bankia” mineral water bottles from the beginning of 2022. This important step has been recognized through this award as well as by our customers, partners, and consumers. This gives us the determination to continue setting ever more ambitious goals for the sake of our vision of a 'World without Waste' and for society as a whole," added Emil Kolev, Manager of the Bankia Production Centre, which is part of Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria.
The introduction of attached caps is another innovation by Coca-Cola on the path towards more sustainable packaging globally. The opening system is the same as the standard bottle. The innovation is applied through a ring that, using a simple tab, makes the cap fit perfectly. The cap stays connected to the security ring on the bottle and the tab ensures a perfect opened position. Under the new European Single Use Plastics Directive, all beverages in plastic packaging will have to undertake this innovation by 2024, and the Coca-Cola system in Bulgaria is the first company that met this standard in a strict and timely manner.
For yet another year, dozens of companies from the packaging industry have taken part in the Prize Pack Awards, the main aim of the competition being, to celebrate Bulgarian packaging and packaging material manufacturers, as well as companies producing food and beverage packaging that meets high standards of safety, environmental protection, and innovation. In the only National Competition for Best Packaging in Bulgaria, companies producing packaging that combines innovative design and good labeling, while ensuring safe and functional storage and convenience for the consumer, with the best physicomechanical and physicochemical properties were awarded.
The award ceremony took place in the framework of the fourteenth Scientific and practical conference dedicated to the theme "Trends in Food and Beverage Packaging - Safety, Quality, Ecology and Regulation", during which novelties and innovations regarding different types of packaging were discussed. During the conference, the issue of introducing a deposit system in the country and achieving a full-circle model of packaging was also raised.