ATLANTA—Two Coca-Cola brands are getting a sustainability makeover. According to the company, DASANI is rolling out bottles made from 100% recycled PET plastic (excluding caps and labels), and Sprite is transitioning from green to clear plastic to increase the material’s likelihood of being remade into new beverage bottles.
The 20-ounce bottles, 1.5-liter singles, and 10-ounce and 12-ounce multipacks of DASANI will be offered in 100% recycled plastic starting this summer. The rollout follows a successful launch of 100% recycled plastic bottles in New York, California and Texas, which also included 20-ounce Coca-Cola bottles. The test included consumer awareness through messaging on the pack and the bottles that said “100% Recycled Bottle” and “Recycle Me Again,” and DASANI bottles will continue to feature this messaging.
In Canada, all DASANI bottles will be made of 100% recycled plastic.
Coca-Cola says its switch to 100% recycled plastic is projected to save more than 20 million pounds of new plastic, compared to 2019, and cut more than 25,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2023.
Demand for rPET currently exceeds supply, so the first step to scaling up use of 100% rPET across our portfolio is building a sustainable pipeline of high-quality material,” said Chris Vallette, senior vice president of technical innovation and stewardship, Coca-Cola North America. “We do this by working with communities to boost PET recycling and collection; collaborating with recycling partners, and, finally, securing rPET to help ensure the material for our bottles is used again and again.
Beginning August 1, all Sprite bottles will switch from green PET packaging to clear. Coca-Cola said that although green PET is recyclable, the recycled material is more often converted into single-use items like clothing and carpeting that cannot be recycled into new PET bottles. During the sorting process, green and other colored PET is separated from clear material to avoid discoloring recycled food-grade packaging required to make new PET bottles.
“Taking colors out of bottles improves the quality of the recycled material,” said Julian Ochoa, CEO, R3CYCLE, which is working with Coca-Cola Consolidated to enable bottle-to-bottle recycling across the largest U.S. bottler’s 14 state-territory. “This transition will help increase availability of food-grade rPET. When recycled, clear PET Sprite bottles can be remade into bottles, helping drive a circular economy for plastic.”
Sprite will also get a new “visual identity system,” which includes an updated logo and packaging design. Sprite’s packaging graphics will retain the brand’s green hue and include prominent “Recycle Me” messaging.
Coca-Cola North America’s entire green plastic portfolio—including packaging for Fresca, Seagram’s and Mello Yello—will transition to clear PET in the coming months.