Dasani Adopts Aluminum, More Sustainable Packaging

Coca-Cola Co. will sell its Dasani water brand in aluminum cans and bottles as part of sustainable packaging initiatives the manufacturer is planning over the next year aimed at reducing plastic waste.

The brand will roll out the aluminum cans beginning this fall in the Northeast and expand to other regions in 2020, according to a media release from Coca-Cola. The water will be available in aluminum bottles in mid-2020. 

Next year, Coca-Cola also plans to sell Dasani water in a 20-ounce HybridBottle, which is the manufacturer's first U.S. packaging made from a mix of up to 50% plant-based renewable and recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) material. The bottle builds on the company’s success with its PlantBottle packaging by adding recycled content alongside plant-based material to reduce the amount of virgin PET plastic used in the bottle. The brand plans to remove the equivalent of 1 billion virgin PET bottles from its U.S. supply chain in the next five years and will continue to look to expand these efforts. 

Other sustainability efforts Dasani is launching this fall include:

• rolling out up to 100 package-less PureFill water dispensers — which provide free filtered water, or sparkling or flavored water for a small fee — across the country beginning this fall, and
• adding "How2Recycle" labels to all of the water brand's packaging to help educate and encourage consumers to recycle after use. 

The moves align with Coca-Cola’s “World Without Waste” goal to make its bottles and cans with an average of 50% recycled material by 2030. It is also the largest sustainability initiative in the history of the water brand, Lauren King, Dasani brand director, said in the release. "Over the last decade we’ve been on a journey to make Dasani more sustainable through new package design and innovation, and we are now accelerating these efforts in support of our company’s ambitious goals to significantly reduce packaging waste around the world by 2030," King said. "While there is no single solution to the problem of plastic waste, the additional package and package-less options we are rolling out today mark an important next step in our effort to provide even more sustainable solutions at scale.” 

The sustainable news from Dasani comes weeks after PepsiCo announced LIFEWTR will be packaged in 100% recycled polyethylene terephthalate rPET, Bubly will no longer be distributed in plastic bottles, and Aquafina will soon come in an aluminum can (first in U.S. foodservice outlets, then at retail).