Coke Bottler Uses Hydrogen-Powered Forklifts; Coke's Recycling Plant is for Sale

The nation’s largest independent Coca-Cola bottler is now using forklifts powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

Beginning this month, Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated’s (CCBCC) Charlotte production facility began operating a fleet of 40 counterbalanced class one lift trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells from Plug Power (Nasdaq: PLUG).

The lifts are refueled on site at three indoor fueling stations with hydrogen provided by Linde North America.

The hydrogen technology requires only three-minute to re-fuel and allows for 6-8 hours of use. Unlike standard battery- powered electric trucks, fuel cell powered equipment operates at 100% power through the entire fill of hydrogen.

"The hydrogen fuel cell solution has allowed us to achieve the high level of environmental sustainability that we’ve been looking for in our operations," says Bo Calloway, director of fleet operations at CCBCC. "Due to the high efficiency of the hydrogen fuel cells and the convenient location of the refueling stations in our plant, we expect to improve both our operating costs and our productivity."

Charlotte-based Coca-Cola Consolidated is a Coca-Cola franchise with territories in 11 Southeastern states.

"The hydrogen fuel cell technology follows major strides in environmental stewardship, including aggressive recycling programs, high-efficiency lighting and one of the best water usage ratios in the world at our Charlotte plant," says CCBCC VP Lauren Steele.

Coke’s Recycling Troubles in South Carolina

Coca-Cola´s joint venture PET recycling plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina is for sale, according to Plastic News.

The facility, which opened two and a half years ago, was designed to be the largest PET recycling facility in the world. It was supposed to help Coca-Cola achieve a 2010 goal of 10% recycled plastic in its bottles.

Coca-Cola wouldn’t confirm the information, but six different sources say Coke’s joint venture partner, United Resource Recovery LLC, has been given permission to look for buyers.

The partners invested roughly $50 million in the plant, which has been closed since March. A Coke executive told Plastic News in April the company hoped to resume recycling sometime this summer. But it now appears the companies will off-load the facility – perhaps at a steep loss.

"Coca-Cola could end up taking a [financial] hosing and one-half on this," a source told Plastic News.

Plastic News reports that some of the problems at the plant stem from difficulties recycling newer, lighter weight soda and water bottles.

The troubles are likely part of the reason Coke missed the 2010 recycling target. But the company has doubled-down with a 2015 target of 25% recycled plastic.

Coke still operates PET recycling plants in Mexico, France, Austria, Switzerland and the Philippines, and the company still intends to produce 100% PlantBottles by 2020. The PlantBottle-designed for Coke is made from PET with up to 30% ethanol from sugar cane.