Yesterday, May 12, Coca-Cola in Great Britain launched a new interactive online application to help meet increasing consumer demand for ‘eco’ information. The ‘Trace Your Coke’ app enables consumers to trace individual cans or bottles of Coca-Cola Great Britain drinks back to their British factory of origin.

It also highlights the importance of the most significant step consumers can take to reduce a drink’s environmental impact — recycling empty packaging.

Users are invited to explore the behind-the-scenes story of how their drinks reach them in perfect condition: the application opens up the whole product lifecycle from Ingredients and Packaging through to Manufacturing and Distribution and finally Recycling, explaining the carbon impact of each step on the way.

Through an interactive Google map of GB, users can explore some simple background facts about Coke’s seven GB factories and the people who work in them. ‘Trace Your Coke’ should also help dispel a widespread misunderstanding: a recent poll showed that less than 50% of people are aware that the Coca-Cola sold in this country is made here. A third of the public believe it is imported from the USA (ICM Research April 2010).