Coca-Cola India expands PET collection drive at Puri Rath Yatra
Coca-Cola India Foundation and HCCB deployed more than 200 volunteers and 10 collection centres during the 10-day Puri Rath Yatra 2026, extending a campaign that collected 26.32 tonnes of PET bottles in 2025.
What happened
Coca-Cola India Foundation and HCCB ran a PET bottle collection and recycling drive during Puri Rath Yatra 2026, deploying over 200 volunteers and 10 collection
Key facts
- 10-day Rath Yatra drive
- More than 200 volunteers and Safai Sathis
- 10 PET bottle collection centres and help desks
- 17 metric tonnes of PET bottles collected in 2024
- 26.32 metric tonnes collected in 2025
- Third consecutive year of the initiative
Why this matters
The initiative highlights potential partnership opportunities with event organizers, municipal bodies and waste-management firms to turn festival-based PET collection into durable local recycling networks.
What to watch
- 2026 PET tonnage collected versus the 26.32 tonnes recovered in 2025.
- Independent confirmation of recycling destination, contamination rates and rPET yield.
- New municipal, state or national extended producer responsibility enforcement actions.
- Expansion announcements covering other Indian festivals or high-footfall public events.
- Coca-Cola India disclosures on recycled PET content, returnable packaging or plastic-reduction targets.
- Publish audited 2026 collection, sorting and recycling outcomes, including the share converted into food-grade rPET.
- Extend the operating model to other pilgrimage, sports and civic events with municipal and waste-picker partners.
- Link event collection to visible recycled-content packaging targets and retailer-facing sustainability communication.
- Use collection data to identify high-leakage zones and install permanent post-event recovery infrastructure.