You might be able to drink Coke from a paper bottle in the future.

The Coca-Cola Company has enlisted its innovation lab in Brussels, Belgium to create new packaging that is made of paper.

This new concept is part of Coca-Cola's World Without Waste initiative.

According to its website, Coca-Cola aims to collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one it sells by 2030.

It is also looking to substantially reduce the use of virgin packaging materials, and aims to use only packaging materials that are fully recyclable.

Prototype has been developed

No date has been revealed for the launch of Coca-Cola's paper bottle, but a first-generation prototype has been developed.

To create the prototype, Coca-Cola collaborated with the Paboco initiative, which includes other food and beverages companies like Carlsberg and Absolut (Pernod Ricard).

Coca-Cola's prototype uses a plastic liner (made from 100 per cent recycled plastic) to hold the liquid.

However, it is still looking for a solution which does not need the plastic liner.

Stijn Franssen, Packaging Innovation Manager at Coca-Cola who is working on the project, said, according to Coca-Cola's website:

"Our vision is to create a paper bottle than can be recycled like any other type of paper, and this prototype is the first step on the way to achieving this.

A paper bottle opens up a whole new world of packaging possibilities, and we are convinced that paper packaging has a role to play in the future."

Must have high safety and quality standards

Just like other types of packaging, Coca-Cola noted that a paper bottle of the future must "adhere to the same high safety and quality standards" that apply to current food and drink packaging

Hence, Stijn and his team are putting the bottle through various lab tests to see how it performs in the refrigerator, how strong it is, and how well it protects the beverage inside.

Here's a look at the first-generation prototype:

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Top images from Coca-Cola/YouTube.