Two Coca-Cola brands change packaging to support recycling

        Coca-Cola Co. brands Dasani and Sprite have made changes to their plastic packaging to support the circular economy. Dasani is releasing bottles made from 100% recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET), excluding caps and labels, while Sprite is transitioning from green plastic bottles to clear plastic bottles. Atlanta-based Coca-Cola said the change is designed to increase the likelihood that the material can be recycled into new beverage bottles.

        Dasani’s Transition to rPET Bottles

        Beginning this summer, Dasani bottles in the U.S., from 20-ounce and 1.5-liter single-serve bottles to 10-ounce and 12-ounce multipacks, will be packaged in 100% recyclable plastic. In Canada, all Dasani bottles will be made from rPET. The change supports Dasani’s commitment to remove the equivalent of 2 billion virgin plastic bottles from production by 2027, relative to 2021 levels, and the company’s World Without Waste goal to use at least 50% recycled material in its bottles and cans by 2030. Its World Without Waste goal also includes making all of its packaging recyclable by 2025 and having at least 25% of its beverages sold in refillable/recyclable packaging by 2030.

        The launch is said to have helped Coca-Cola’s system identify the highest-quality rPET sources and fine-tune the production processes needed to make bottles using only rPET.

        For the company to increase its use of rPET, the supply of that material must increase, said Chris Vallette, senior vice president of technology innovation and management at Coca-Cola. “We have to improve collection and get processors up and running to make the product,” he said. While designing bottles made from rPET is an “engineering challenge,” especially for Coca-Cola’s sparkling drinks, given their pressure, Vallette said, “getting rPET in the right places and getting an adequate, secure supply” is a bigger issue.

        Sprite switches to clear bottles

        Beginning August 1, Sprite will switch its PET packaging from its signature green to clear. While green PET is recyclable, Coca-Cola said the recycled material is more often turned into strapping, clothing and carpeting than new PET bottles.

<span “Removing color from the bottle improves the quality of the recycled material,” said Julian Ochoa, CEO of R3CYCLE, a Waxhaw, N.C.-based post-industrial and post-consumer PET reprocessor that is working with Coca-Cola Associates, Inc., of Charlotte, N.C., to enable bottle-to-bottle recycling in the 14-state locations of the company’s largest U.S. bottler. “This shift will help increase the availability of food-grade rPET.” Once recycled, the clear PET Sprite bottle can be made back into bottles, helping to advance the circular economy for plastics,” added Ochoa.

        Coca-Cola Brand Now in Clear Bottles

        Except for certain sizes of Dasani bottles, which are made entirely of rPET, Coca-Cola is transitioning from green bottles to clear bottles for other brands to increase its bottle-to-bottle recyclability. Sprite’s packaging graphics will retain the brand’s recognizable green hue and include the “Recycle Me” message.

         normal;">        The company said 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. By using clear PET bottles, the company hopes to improve the supply of end-of-life PET bottles, as long as consumers recycle the bottles after using them.

        Increase recycling

        Coca-Cola joins Keurig Dr Pepper and PepsiCo through the American Beverage Association's Every Bottle Back Initiative, is investing in improved collection of PET bottles. To improve the quality and availability of recycled plastics in key areas of the country, Every Bottle Recycler is providing the equivalent of $400 million to recycling partners and closed-loop partners through a new $100 million industry fund that will match three grants one-to-one from other grants and investors. The investments are used to improve sorting, processing and collection in areas with the greatest infrastructure gaps to help increase the amount of recycled plastic that can be remade into beverage bottles, ABA said. Communities that have received grants so far include Laurel, Maryland; Big Bear, California; Dallas-Fort Worth; Gwinnett County, Georgia; Marquette County, Michigan; and Baltimore.

        Coca-Cola said Dasani’s transition to 100% rPET in bottles is expected to save more than 20 million pounds of new plastic and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 25,000 metric tons by 2023, compared to 2019 levels.

        Coca-Cola said it is working to raise consumer awareness through the use of on-pack messaging that reads “100% Recycled Bottle” and “Recycle Me Again,” as well as calls to action on retail signage and other communications.

        Solving the reuse problem

        Kate Melges, head of the US plastics campaign at Washington-based Greenpeace, said in a statement: "Just because a plastic bottle is recyclable doesn't mean it can be recycled. Coca-Cola's recent announcement is another blatant attempt at greenwashing by one of the world's worst plastic polluters. It is estimated that only 9% of all plastic waste generated as of 2015 was recycled. We are in the middle of a massive plastic pollution crisis and we can't recycle our way out of it." In 2021, Coca-Cola produced 125 billion single-use plastic bottles, 13 billion more than the previous year. Instead of turning off its plastic tap, Coca-Cola continues to produce billions of single-use bottles each year, affecting our health and harming our oceans, climate and communities. If Coca-Cola wants to be a true leader in the fight against the plastic and climate crisis, it must be more ambitious and commit to 50% reuse and replenishment by 2030. ”

        In response to such criticism, Vallette said Coca-Cola is taking a "three-pronged approach" to reduce its use of virgin plastic: minimizing the amount of plastic needed to make structurally sound bottles, making 25% of its packaging reusable, and working to improve recycling of bottles that are put on the market. "None of these three alone will meet the needs of the market and consumers," he said.

        The combination will reduce plastic waste and greenhouse gas emissions, Vallette said. Reusable options the company is exploring include glass and plastic returnable containers, as well as allowing consumers to use their own containers.