Coca-Cola: Abbey Well, the super lightweight, sustainable bottle

Rethinking Coca-Cola’s global water bottle…with a twist

We joined forces with Coca-Cola to design their most sustainable water bottle yet – the super lightweight Abbey Well. The product needed to be cost-effective, support the brand’s environmental goals and be usable by 140 water brands worldwide.

The project began with a workshop to generate ideas for communicating sustainability internationally. This led to a design that advocates behaviour change, with an iconic arrow impression that encourages consumers to twist the bottle and save space when recycling.

Conception, engineering and implementation

Collaborating with external partners, we refined the bottle, using minimal materials and maximising strength. We developed guidelines for international markets so that bottles could be produced in various sizes and meet different technical constraints. Rapid, iterative prototype testing ensured durability and feasibility, and we worked on-site with the bottling partner to creatively solve manufacturing challenges.

The new design’s bottle, label and cap are all 100% recyclable, using 28% less plastic than before, and requiring less energy to make. Both Coca-Cola and KD are delighted the design won a 2017 Footprint Sustainable Packaging Award and a 2018 Starpack Award.