The Coca-Cola Company is ditching green to go green. The company announced on Monday it will no longer package Sprite in its iconic green bottle as clear plastic is better for recycling.
According to a statement, “Sprite is transitioning from green to clear plastic to increase the material’s likelihood of being remade into new beverage bottles.”
Coca-Cola produces more than 100 billion plastic bottles every year, according to data it provided in 2019 to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, making it one of the world’s largest producers of single-use plastic waste.
The beverage company’s transition to clear plastic is a move that Juan Andrade, Director of Flying Tree Environmental Management, a local NGO, has welcomed.
“If they remove the green colour, they just remove something that will not need to be re-processed. You not talking about one bottle, you talking about billions worldwide, it means all that green ink or green colouring won’t be needed anymore, that will play a role in reducing the company’s carbon footprint,” Andrade said.
Studies show that while soft drink bottles can be recycled regardless of their colour, additives like colour can complicate the conversion process. Information from the online site NPR stated that the green Sprite bottles were more often recycled into things like clothes and carpeting, which are more difficult to recycle again.
According to Andrade, by removing the green ink, the recycling process will be made easier.
“When you keep the plastic clear it will definitely be easier to reprocess, it’ll be easier to salt in salting facilities, and the plastic, the PET will be easier to remix in any other clear PET and in that way making the recycling process a lot easier.”
Andrade’s NGO has been advocating for reforestation and rehabilitation for nearly 20 years. He said the beverage company’s recent push to go green is not too little too late.
“If we start it, it is not too late, it is a problem that has been accumulated for many, many years and it cannot be solved with one fix overnight but it’s a step in the right direction.”
It is being widely reported that beverage companies are struggling to meet their sustainable packaging goals as there is currently not enough recycled plastic in circulation to create new bottles.