Coca-Cola is retiring Sprite’s green plastic bottle and replacing it with a clear plastic alternative. The company is changing the packaging from green to clear plastic beginning August 1 as part of broader efforts to become more environmentally responsible. Sprite's current plastic cannot be recycled into new bottles, a key initiative for the company as it looks to reduce plastic waste.
"Taking colors out of bottles improves the quality of the recycled material," Julian Ochoa, CEO of R3CYCLE, a plastic group helping Coca-Cola improve its recycling, said in a statement. "When recycled, clear PET Sprite bottles can be remade into bottles, helping drive a circular economy for plastic."
Customers will also notice a revamped logo and packaging design on the Sprite bottles. The well-known green hue will still be used on Sprite labels.
Other beverages that use green bottles in Coke's portfolio, including Fresca, Seagram's and Mello Yello, will also be replaced with clear containers in the coming months.
Enter your email to subscribe to the CNN Five Things Newsletter.
Coke previously announced its "World Without Waste" initiative with the ultimate goal of collecting and recycling one bottle or can for each one it sells. Part of that initiative included launching a new bottle made from 100% recycled plastic material.
The company also announced a majority of Dasani bottled water will now be sold in 100% recycled plastic. Coke said this innovation is projected to reduce roughly 20 million pounds of new plastic waste.
More from Loyalty360 featuring Coca-Cola: