The Coca-Cola Co. announced that two of its biggest brands in North America are taking major steps to support a circular economy for plastic packaging. 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 majority of DASANI bottles in the United States — including 20-oounce, 1.5-liter singles as well as 10- and 12-ounce multipacks — will be offered in 100% recycled plastic rolling out this summer. In Canada, this innovation spans all DASANI bottles. The shift supports DASANI’s pledge to remove the equivalent of 2 billion virgin plastic bottles from production by 2027 compared with 2021 levels and the company’s World Without Waste goal to use at least 50% recycled material in its bottles and cans by 2030, the company notes.
The brand’s transition to 100% recycled plastic is projected to save more than 20 million pounds of new plastic, compared with 2019, and cut more than 25,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions (creating bottles from recycled plastic uses less energy than virgin PET) in 2023 alone, according to the company.
“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 at Coca-Cola North America, in a statement. “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.”
Sprite, meanwhile, is shifting all of plastic PET packaging from its signature green color to clear, which began Aug. 1. 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, according to the company. 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, it adds.
“Taking colors out of bottles improves the quality of the recycled material,” said Julian Ochoa, CEO of 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.”
Vallette added, “Sprite’s move to clear will help us introduce more 100% rPET bottles like DASANI is launching and keep more bottles in the circular economy.”
In addition to transitioning to clear bottles, Sprite is introducing a new visual identity system featuring a revamped logo and packaging design to provide a consistent look and voice around the world. Sprite’s packaging graphics will retain the brand’s recognizable green hue and include prominent “Recycle Me” messaging, it says.
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.
