US-based multi-national company Coca-Cola (Atlanta, Georgia; www.coca-colacompany.com) said it has launched a market test in the UK with PET bottles that have neither sleeves nor labels.

Instead of a label, the 500 ml rPET bottles for Sprite and Sprite Zero feature an embossed logo on the front and laser-engraved product information on the back.

Coca-Cola said its new Sprite bottles will be available by March 2024 in branches of Tesco Express in London, Manchester, Brighton, Hove, and Bristol. The two variants differ in the colour of the screw top, which is green for Sprite and transparent for Zero. 

Not only do no-label bottles save packaging material, but they also simplify the recycling process because the labels no longer have to be separated from the bottles in the reclaim facilities.

Related: Coca-Cola funds development of drinks bottles from landfilled plastics waste

“With this test run, we want to find out how the consumers react to the new design”, a company spokesperson said. For reasons of improved recyclability, the green Sprite bottles that had been typical of the brand were also replaced in the last few years by transparent ones. 

In recent years, the beverage group has increased the recyclate content of its PET non-returnable bottles in Europe across all brands to just under 50%. At the end of last year, bottling partner Coca-Cola HBC (Steinhausen, Switzerland; https://ch.coca-colahellenic.com) opened its own PET recycling plant in Ploiesti, Romania. The new facility is its third in Europe, with two plants in Poland and Italy already operational. 

The company recently invested more than EUR 100 mn in expanding its reusable bottle range on the German market. For reusable PET bottles sold in Germany, Coca-Cola has reiterated its plan to continue using virgin material.