Coca-Cola has removed labels from its Sprite and Sprite Zero products in eight UK stores as part of a trial to boost recyclability and reduce the use of packaging materials.
The pilot – which has rolled out in Tesco Express stores in Brighton & Hove, Bristol, London and Manchester – sees the labels removed from single 500ml bottles of Sprite and Sprite Zero in favour of an embossed logo on the front of pack.
Laser-engraved product and nutritional information also appears on the back of pack.
The 100% recycled PET bottles feature Sprite and Sprite Zero’s distinctive green and transparent caps to enable them to be easily identified.
The trial would run until March and would “simplify the recycling process” Coca-Cola said.
Although existing labels were recyclable, they needed to be removed and separated during the recycling process, it said.
“Labels contain valuable information for consumers, but with the help of technology we can now trial other ways to share this information while reducing the amount of packaging we use,” said Stephen Moorhouse, GB general manager at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners. “Going label-less might seem like a small step, but it is one of several ways we are exploring making recycling easier.”
The trial was the first time globally that the technology had been used, claimed Javier Meza, vice president for marketing at Coca-Cola Europe.
“Although the design change may sound simple, this is a big shift from a marketing perspective,” he said, adding that the trial “could contribute to longer-term changes to the way brands communicate with their consumers”.
James Bull, head of packaging and food waste strategy at Tesco, added: “We want to help our customers minimise the environmental impact of the products they buy, including removing plastic and packaging when possible. This trial of label-less packaging by Sprite is a great example of how brands are innovating to provide those solutions.”
Sprite’s green bottles were ditched by Coca-Cola in 2019, a move it said would enable them to be more easily recycled into bottles. While green PET plastic is recyclable, it’s usually converted into single-use items like clothing and carpet that cannot be recycled again.
In 2022, the company rolled out tethered caps across bottles from all of its brands. The tethering was designed to it make it easier for consumers to recycle the entire packaging, it said at the time.
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