Coca-Cola has successfully created the first ever food and drink packaging made from recycled marine litter, to produce around 300 sample bottles.

The recycling trial produced bottles containing 25% recycled marine plastic retrieved from the Mediterranean Sea and beaches. The bottles have been made in partnership with Ioniqua Technologies, Indorama Ventures and Mares Circulares (Circular Seas).

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If the launch proves to be successful other companies may follow suit. This will offer a new, innovative way for plastic bottles to be manufactured.

The move comes after Coca-Cola was named in a Greenpeace report, along with Pepsi and Nestlé, as being one of the most frequent brands found in their global plastic waste clean-ups.

The adverse publicity put the brand at the front of consumer minds as criticism of  beverage industry plastic use intensified. UN reports state that 8 million tonnes of plastic end up in the world’s oceans every year. With consumers reading headlines like this every day, single-use plastic has gained a very bad reputation.

Coca-Cola says the new technology, known as enhanced recycling, is a world first. It was described by Coca-Cola as “a small step for now” – but with “big potential”.

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The enhanced recycling process breaks down the components of lower grade recyclables and strips out impurities to rebuild the plastic as new.

By becoming a recycling innovator, Coca-Cola could gain a competitive advantage, as consumers turn to environmentally friendly packaging. With recycled bottles, Coca-Cola provides consumers the option to shift their guilt of purchasing single use plastic to the positive feeling that they’re helping make a difference to the environment.

Coca-Cola is working to remove its association with plastic pollution, and to see “single-use plastics become redundant” in its business. Last month, the firm announced it will end the use of shrink-wrapped plastics on multi-packs in the UK. It has also severed ties with the Plastics Industry Association.

Coca-Cola is aiming to have plastic derived from recycled material in standard run bottles from 2020. However, the extent of roll out is not yet clear.