Return, Recycle, Reward! Coca-Cola Great Britain and Merlin Entertainments are offering guests the chance to win exclusive money-can’t-buy VIP experiences in exchange for used plastic bottles

Merlin has announced the evolution of its partnership with Coca-Cola Great Britain, offering consumers the chance to win VIP marine and animal conservation focused experiences in connection with the SEA LIFE Trust, Chessington Conservation Fund and the Shark Trust at some of the UK’s best-known family attractions in exchange for their used plastic bottles.

Since the launch of the initiative in 2018, Merlin has collected and recycled over 100,000 plastic bottles through specifically designed Coca-Cola reverse vending machines. There are now 22 ‘reverse vending’ machines across 9 Merlin attractions, which allow guests to recycle any 500ml plastic bottle and enter for the chance to win one of a range of prizes. Experiences include a family VIP behind-the-scenes tour of the SEA LIFE TRUST Cornish Seal Sanctuary in Cornwall, a shark dive at the Bear Grylls Adventure in connection with the Shark Trust, a VIP White Rhino Encounter at Chessington World of Adventures Resort in connection with the Chessington Conservation Fund and a Green Sea Turtle feed and VIP Tour of SEA LIFE Manchester.

Visitors will have the chance to be part of the action and enter from the 14 July 2022 at leading UK Merlin attractions, including Alton Towers Resort, THORPE PARK Resort, Chessington World of Adventures Resort and the LEGOLAND® Windsor Resort, with Warwick Castle Resort, SEA LIFE London, SEA LIFE Brighton, SEA LIFE Blackpool and LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Birmingham now also participating in the recycling scheme. The location of the innovative machines can be found by asking a member of the attraction’s team or on the individual attraction apps, guiding people through the attractions to recycle their bottles and enter the VIP competition via www.funcountdown.com/coke.

The partnership with Merlin Entertainments builds on Coca-Cola’s sustainable packaging strategy, which now includes 100% recycled PET plastic bottles which are infinitely recyclable.

“Sustainability is core to our operations at Merlin Entertainments and we are excited to partner again with Coca-Cola Great Britain on this initiative. We are continuing to progress against our sustainability ambitions, including removing unnecessary packaging and plastic on all our branded merchandise. In our SEA LIFE attractions we banned all plastic straws and retail plastic bags at the end of 2018, and in our UK Resort Theme Parks we are proud to now be operating with zero waste to landfill. We know that there is much more we can do though, and that we have a role to play in enabling and encouraging consumers to reduce, return and recycle their plastic. This is why partnering with companies such as Coca-Cola is so important, and today’s announcement is a fantastic example of Merlin working with like-minded business partners to help protect our planet for the future.”

Dare Ilori, Group Head of Sustainability at Merlin Entertainments

“The summer months are a special time for friends and families to get together and we’re excited to offer people the chance to win some amazing experiences whilst rewarding them for recycling on the go whilst at Merlin attractions. All of our bottles are 100% recyclable and our partnership is just one of the actions we’re taking to achieve our ambition of a World Without Waste.”

Louise Maugest, Marketing Director at Coca-Cola Great Britain

The offer closes on 30th September 2022 with those who deposit their empty bottles being rewarded with the chance to win amazing prizes at Merlin attractions across the country.

For enquiries please contact:

Media contacts

Brunswick Group

+4420 7404 5959

[email protected]

Coca-Cola

MHP

[email protected]

Terms & Conditions

For competition Terms & Conditions, please visit: www.funcountdown.com/coke.