Over time, we've become a disposable society.

If something breaks, we're more likely to toss it as opposed to trying to fix it.

Not only is that more costly, it's also bad for the environment, but one local company tries to do its part to change that.

"Carolina Impact's" Jason Terzis joins us with the details.

- It's estimated that only about nine percent of all plastic waste produced worldwide is successfully recycled, with the vast majority, about 80%, ending up in landfills.

The rest gets incinerated, and those numbers are actually even worse in the United States, but Coca-Cola Consolidated in Charlotte has developed programs to do its part and ultimately help those recycling numbers.

(somber orchestral music) - How about a bottle of Coca-Cola?

- Oh, thank you, Mr.

Thompson.

- [Jason] The commercials are legendary, from the animated polar bears in the '90s.

- Want my Coke?

- [Jason] To the Mean Joe Greene jersey toss in 1979.

- Hey, kid.

Catch.

- [Jason] And one of the most iconic of them all, the 1971 Hilltop ad.

♪ I'd like to buy the world a Coke ♪ ♪ And keep it company - [Jason] For well over a century now, Coca-Cola has stood as one of America's most renowned brands.

- And I think it's something that folks feel very comfortable around and feel familiar with.

- [Jason] In Charlotte, Coca-Cola Consolidated is a longtime partner with Coke.

They are two separate companies.

Coca-Cola owns the brand, sells the drink concentrate, and handles global marketing, while Coca-Cola Consolidated buys the concentrate and then produces, bottles, sells, and distributes the finished product.

- Coca-Cola, I always refer to it as the mothership in Atlanta, and they've got several business units around the world.

And we're in the North America Business Unit.

We are one of many bottlers and we're the largest bottler in North America.

(machinery rumbling) - [Jason] Consolidated's sprawling facility on Charlotte's Northwest side has six total lines, four for bottling, two for canning.

- So we are in one of the bottling lines, and what you're seeing is a Fanta product.

- [Jason] Manufacturing this much product leads to waste, lots of it, and that's why Coca-Cola Consolidated is making large-scale efforts to recycle and reuse as much of its product as possible.

- As a company, we also realize we make a lot of bottles and cans and we want to keep reusing them and, reusing the plastic and the aluminum to keep making them.

- [Jason] Consolidated is prioritizing three main focus points that use innovative techniques to reduce waste, conserve water and energy, and build toward a more sustainable future.

- One is package recycling in increasing recycling rates, the other one is water leadership.

We are trying to help communities improve water quality and address water issues.

- So water's our main ingredient.

It goes into every product, so it's a very critical ingredient for us, and we do measure it, we do a water use ratio to track how much we're using.

- And then emissions reductions, where we're trying to reduce carbon emissions that are released into the atmosphere.

- By reducing our bottle and cap weight, or the content of those materials, and making them lighter, we're actually reducing emissions and reducing packaging material as well, so we're saving on product and we're saving on energy.

- [Jason] Coca-Cola Consolidated's Refresh, Recycle, Renew program aspires to make 100% of their packaging recyclable.

- [Announcer 2] When you finish enjoying our products, the bottle's lifecycle isn't over yet.

Please recycle, so the bottle can be sent on a journey to be remade.

- [Jason] There are other ongoing efforts as well.

Consolidated has a buyback program to recycle its wooden shipping pallets.

Warehouses are converting to LED lighting to lower energy consumption.

And Coke product, Sprite, recently ditched its longtime traditional green plastic and went clear in an effort to increase recycling probability.

- Zero waste really means zero landfill.

So what we do is we have programs at our plants to recycle all of the materials that come back in.

If there is anything that's not recyclable, which could happen, we have what's called a waste-to-energy container, and all the materials go in there and it goes to a facility where they burn the waste and they reuse the byproducts for other processes.

- It's basically reusing our natural resources instead of continually keeping taking some from the earth.

We have it, it's there, we have figured a way to reuse it.

So environmentally speaking, that is a more sustainable, better practice.

- [Jason] To help meet their renewable goals, Consolidated partners with multiple large-scale vendors, school districts, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Spectrum Center, and Bank of America Stadium.

- We are a sports and entertainment company, but I think that we recognize that we've got a lot, we've got a larger responsibility than that.

I think that Coca-Cola Consolidated feels the same way.

Sustainability is something that's not just important for them or us, but for our community and our our world as a whole.

It's something that was important to our relationship.

- For recycling to be successful, and for human beings, or for us to participate, you have to make it as convenient as possible and as simple and easy as possible.

- [Jason] And that's why you'll find recycling receptacles all over Bank of America Stadium.

A typical stadium event, like a Panthers game, fills three 40-yard dumpsters with recyclables.

- So one of the things with Coca-Cola Consolidated that we did was create a lot more opportunities, specifically in the 300, 400, 500 levels, just more receptacles.

And then also following the game, you've got individuals that are going out by section and going through and picking up these plastic bottles, and again, putting those into recycling receptacles.

- [Announcer 2] Bottles are separated, shredded, melted, and turned into pellets.

These pellets become brand new bottles ready to be filled and enjoyed again.

- [Jason] And much like football, recycling is a team game.

If you toss it in the trash, it goes to the landfill.

Toss it in the recycle bin, it hopefully gets reused.

If everyone does their part, the world ultimately wins.

- Just how big is our local Coke distributor?

- They're pretty large and they have a big footprint in a vast majority of the country here.

While Coca-Cola Consolidated is the largest Coca-Cola bottler in the United States, it has 11 manufacturing facilities and 60 distribution and sales centers, and it's been at it for 125 years.

It's quite the operation.

So it was interesting just to see not only the facility here, but, like, then to realize, okay, they've got these things going everywhere, so, yeah.

- Making an impact, thanks so much, Jason.