Selling beverages in paper containers is as old as the milk carton, which was called a paper bottle back in 1915. However, they aren't suitable for all beverages and certainly not for carbonated ones that need something a bit more robust. That being said, a paper bottle is very attractive from an environmental point of view, since paper is biodegradable and relatively easy to recycle.

In 2020, Coca-Cola's R&D division in Brussels, along with the Danish startup Paper Bottle Company (Paboco) and working with Carlsberg, L'Oréal and The Absolut Company, came up with a bottle consisting of a hard paper shell lined with a bio-based plastic that is also used for the cap.

Coca-Cola emphasizes that the bottle is still in development as the company assesses the prototype bottle's performance, durability, and ability to protect its contents. That being said, Coca-Cola wants to go ahead with consumer testing to determine how it performs in the real world and measure how well people take to the new receptacle.