Here's Why Sprite Bottles Aren't That Iconic Shade Of Green Anymore

You may not have thought about it or even noticed, but Sprite began phasing out green plastic bottles in 2022, replacing them with clear bottles. For years, the lemon-lime soda came in green bottles and the color was an iconic part of the brand identity, just as red is for Coca-Cola and blue for Pepsi. Though Sprite labels are still green and green bottles remain in a few countries, clear bottles replaced them mainly for consistency and environmental reasons.

A decade ago, the Coca-Cola Company, which makes Sprite, was only sourcing 7% of its plastic from recycled material, per CNBC.The United States was only recycling about 30% of the 6 billion pounds of plastic bottles tossed out every year and being more environmentally friendly was on Coca-Cola's radar. Colored plastic, like the old Sprite bottles, is much harder to recycle. Basically, if it's green plastic already, you can't use it for much else even if you try to recycle it because the dye can't be stripped. Green plastic often becomes clothing or carpeting and that's about it.

Clear plastic can be repeatedly recycled into almost anything, including more bottles. This creates a circular lifecycle for plastics, allowing repeated use more efficiently. Coca-Cola started rolling out clear bottles in countries the Philippines, Thailand, South Korea, and the United Kingdom in 2019. The move was part of a "Let's Be Clear" campaign, which also involved moves towards making the bottles entirely out of recycled material.

Coca-Cola fully made the switch from green to clear for all of its Sprite products in Canada and the U.S. in August 2022. By the end of that year, they had moved to clear bottles in 117 different markets and encouraged customers to refill bottles. This coincided with a greater push to encourage recycling, including the words "recycle me" printed on the Sprite label much larger than before.

The goal was to revamp the image of Sprite and appeal not just to soda drinkers but those who were environmentally conscious, particularly younger consumers. It was specifically targeting Gen Z in the hopes the message of recycling and clarity would resonate with them. Other brands under the Coca-Cola umbrella — including Fresca, Mello Yello, and even Seagram's — were also moved away from colored plastic.

As of 2026, most markets worldwide have made the switch, but not all. In India, there are still vendors selling green plastic Sprite bottles. Coca-Cola works with 14 local bottlers throughout the country, so getting everyone on board is likely a harder process than in other countries. 

Coca-Cola's goals are slowly paying off. While the company was only using 7% recycled plastic in 2017, that was up to 18% in 2024. The company's long term goals are to use at least 30% recycled plastics by 2035. However, some environmental groups still have issues with the company over its packaging.