Swire Coca-Cola Turns to Eco-Friendly Solutions for Equipment Repairs
Swire Coca-Cola is taking a sustainable approach to servicing and repairing its vending machines and coolers across the U.S. by implementing innovative reuse and recycling practices aimed at minimizing landfill waste.
Instead of scrapping non-functional machines and parts, the bottler is systematically refurbishing and recovering components—reducing environmental impact while also cutting costs. At one of its major refurbishment centers in Draper, Utah, thousands of vending machines and coolers pass through an extensive repair and refurbishment process each year. Teams there assess broken equipment for what parts can be salvaged, repaired, or repurposed.
“The idea is to see what we can do to make the best of what was brought to us and do it in the most economical and most sustainable way possible,” explained a Swire Coca-Cola service team leader featured in the report. Items like motors, fans, and circuit boards are routinely tested and fixed rather than discarded, while hundreds of old machines are repaired and reused instead of being sent to landfills.
Key to this strategy is a growing focus on landfill diversion. Nearly all of the obsolete materials—ranging from insulation panels to copper wiring—are now integrated into detailed recycling streams. For instance, foam insulation pulled from old machines is shredded and recycled for use in other industries, while scrap metal and electronics are separated for specialized processing.
The initiative is aligned with broader sustainability goals across the FMCG sector, where environmental responsibility and operational efficiency are increasingly interlinked. As regulatory pressures and consumer expectations grow, companies like Swire Coca-Cola are finding competitive advantage in cross-functional circular economy models that reduce waste and maximize asset lifecycles.
With sustainability reporting becoming a key metric for stakeholders, Swire’s environmentally responsible repair program not only reduces the company’s carbon footprint but also positions it as a forward-thinking leader within the beverage industry’s supply chain operations.