Coca-Cola announces sustainability actions affecting Sprite, DASANI

Coca-Cola Company this week announced its brand Sprite is moving from green to clear plastic bottles to increase the likelihood that the material is made into new beverage bottles.

In a related move “to support a circular economy for plastic packaging,” Coca-Cola revealed DASANI—its purified and mineral-enhanced water brand—was introducing bottles produced from 100% recycled PET plastic, excluding caps and labels.

In a July 27 statement, Coca-Cola announced it is rolling out 100% recycled plastic this summer for most of DASANI bottles, while the innovation encompasses all DASANI bottles in Canada. The move is expected to save more than 20 million pounds of new plastic, compared to 2019, and in 2023 alone, cut more than 25,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, according to Coca-Cola.

DASANI previously introduced 100% recycled plastic bottles in California, New York and Texas, which also included Coca-Cola trademark 20-oz. bottles.

“We saw how much the 100% recycled PET message truly resonates with our customers and consumers, particularly DASANI fans whose sustainability expectations are especially high,” Chris Vallette, senior vice president of technical innovation and stewardship with Coca-Cola North America, said in Coca-Cola’s statement.

Sprite transition

Meanwhile, Sprite is migrating all its plastic PET packaging to clear color from its signature green. The transition will begin Aug. 1, according to Coca-Cola.

“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,” Coca-Cola explained in its statement. “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.”

Sprite also is unveiling a new visual identity system displaying a refurbished logo and packaging design, and Sprite’s packaging graphics will maintain the brand’s green color and feature “Recycle Me” messaging, according to Coca-Cola.

Cola-Cola said its entire green plastic portfolio in North America—including packaging for Fresca, Mello Yello and Seagram’s —will migrate to clear PET in the coming months.

In other news this week, Coca-Cola reported its second-quarter results. Net revenues increased 12% to $11.3 billion, and organic revenues (non-GAAP) grew 16%, while EPS (earnings per share) declined 28% to $0.44.

In its earnings announcement, Coca-Cola mentioned “progressing on its strategy to develop a circular economy for packaging materials aimed at eliminating waste and reducing carbon emissions through the continual use of existing, valuable resources, including high-quality recycled PET.”

Coca-Cola’s sustainability work extends into Japan, where the company introduced a label-less bottle for the Coca-Cola brand in the online channel. In addition, Coca-Cola said it already uses 100% recycled PET bottles for 37 products under five brands sold in Japan.