Sprite Is Retiring Its Iconic Green Bottles and Will Switch to a More Eco-Friendly Option

Sprite is saying goodbye to its green bottle.

The Coca-Cola Company announced Wednesday that the lemon-lime drink will transition to a clear plastic bottle beginning next month "to increase the material's likelihood of being remade into new beverage bottles," according to a statement from the beverage brand.

The eco-friendly move, set to begin Aug. 1, is part of Coca-Cola's nod to supporting a circular economy for plastic packaging. While the green bottle is recyclable, due to its color, it cannot be recycled into new PET bottles, the company said. (The recycled green bottles were more likely to become clothing or carpeting, they said.)

PET is short for polyethylene terephthalate, which is a type of clear, strong, lightweight and 100% recyclable plastic, according to the American Beverage Association.

The company also announced that its DASANI water bottles would soon be made from 100% recycled PET plastic (excluding caps and labels).

The transition this summer for DASANI's bottles is projected to save more than 20 million pounds of new plastic, compared to 2019, according to the company, and cut more than 25,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

The demise of the green Sprite bottle is the second time this week that an iconic food and beverage item has said farewell.

On Monday, Klondike announced that it was discontinuing the Choco Taco, due to an unprecedented spike in demand for different Klondike products over the past two years.

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The taco-shaped frozen treat consisted of light vanilla ice cream encased in a waffle cone, partially covered with milk chocolate and topped with peanuts.