DASANI and Sprite take steps to boost sustainable packaging

Two of The Coca-Cola Company’s biggest brands DASANI and Sprite are taking steps to cut down on its plastic packaging.

DASANI will be 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 DASANI announcement follows a launch of recycled plastic bottles in New York, California and Texas. 

According to the company, the initial launch helped drive consumer awareness through the bold, on-pack “100% Recycled Bottle” and “Recycle Me Again” calls-to-action also used on retail signage and other communications.  DASANI  transition to 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 (creating bottles from recycled plastic uses less energy than virgin PET) in 2023 alone, said The Coca-Cola Company.

Sprite, meanwhile, is shifting all of plastic PET packaging from its signature green color to clear, beginning 1 August 2022. 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 recognisable green hue and include prominent “Recycle Me” messaging. In Southeast Asia, the company also launched bottles made from 100% recycled plastic in countries such as the Philippines, and has switched its iconic green Sprite packaging to clear plastic across Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

It is also partnering with other companies to form Packaging Recovery Organisations in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam to accelerate packaging collection and recycling in a sustainable way in reach country. In August last year, in the ASEAN region Coca-Cola also used its packaging to deliver a recycling message by rolling out a "Recycle Me" message on its package labels across all brands and products in ASEAN.

"Our packaging is our biggest, most visible billboard," Matthias Blume, group marketing director frontline, at Coca-Cola ASEAN and South Pacific said. He added that this will be the company's largest-ever move in the region to use its packaging to deliver a prominent recycling message and encourage action.

 “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 saw how much the 100% recycled PET message truly resonates with our customers and consumers, particularly DASANI fans whose sustainability expectations are especially high,” Vallette added. He 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 Hong Kong, The Coca-Cola Company’s bottled water brand Bonaqua unveiled a new logo in its rebranding initiative, while it has also rolled out a new product design to go in line with its commitment to protecting the environment. 
The company has replaced the original windmill logo with a watermill logo. According to the company, the watermill logo was inspired by the power of water and it hoped to demonstrate the idea of "water is for tomorrow" and "water pushes everything forward". 

To further help protect the environment, inspired by The Coca-Cola Company’s sustainability practices from Japan, Bonaqua will launch its first locally produced and labelless bottle. The label-less bottle draws inspiration from running rivers with a design that delivers higher recycling efficiency by eliminating one packaging material.

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