Coca-Cola is to invest £5m and enter into a 10-year deal with a northeast bottle recycling company.
Eco Plastics, which is based in Wallsend, will use the cash for a £15m expansion of its Lincolnshire plastic bottle recycling plant.
The 10-year contract see Eco Plastics supply recycled, food-grade plastic to Coca-Cola.
The deal has been praised by environmental group Friends of the Earth. “A new Coca-Cola and Eco Plastics recycling facility for plastic bottles is great news – it shows businesses are willing to play their part in reducing rubbish,” said FoE’s Julian Kirby.
“Investment in recycling cuts climate-changing emissions, creates jobs, and helps to develop the market for recycled materials in the UK whilst saving businesses and councils from the rising costs of landfill and incineration.”