7UP Screwed Up by Going Green

It’s got to be frustrating for the people who come up with packaging design guidelines for sustainability — only to have them ignored.

Case in point: 7UP recently modernized its graphics. As a regular 7UP drinker, I can say, I think the new “effervescent” design works. It’s clean and contemporary. I am happy to buy 7UP in the new packaging.

But …

We live in a world where sustainability and circularity rule. So why, oh, why, are the bottles still tinted green?!

When we asked, Allison Kapp, senior brand manager at Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP), answered, “The brand refresh is specific to 7UP’s visual graphics across the portfolio, and no changes were made to the primary packaging.” Then she added, “We work closely with the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) guidelines to design ‘APR preferred’ packaging that is fully compatible with plastics recycling systems, and our 7UP plastic bottles are recyclable.”

We don’t need no stinking guidelines.

Alright. Let’s check.

APR Guidelines for Rigid PET explain: “PET properties can be enhanced with colorants, UV blockers, oxygen barriers/scavengers and other additives. Each modification and addition to the base, clear PET in a package must be considered for its effect on the recycling stream.”

And then the very next paragraph emphasizes in bold:

“Clear PET is valued for its high transparency and colorless appearance; clear PET has the most value for recycling. The APR does not have quantitative guidance on color values for PET base resin today. However, we do encourage those that specify PET resins to work with their suppliers to identify the best resins available that will result in low color in an initial application, and then have good color stability when the PET is recycled.”

Oh, my.

Yes, tinted PET is still recyclable — as clothing, carpeting, and pallet strap. But its reuse markets for packaging are limited because of the color.

Except …

Maybe KDP could reuse green rPET for new 7UP bottles. Is this in the works? Repeated queries to KDP went unanswered.

In the company’s just released 2023 Corporate Responsibility report, it says, “KDP remains committed to reducing its virgin plastic use by 20% by 2025, achieved in part by incorporating more post-consumer recycled content across its packaging portfolio. In 2023, the Company … incorporated 27% post-consumer recycled content in its packaging portfolio, including continued conversion of Bai and Core Hydration+ products to 100% recycled plastic bottles.”

From what I can tell, both Bai and Core Hydration+ product lines are packaged in clear PET. So they aren’t candidates for green rPET.

What about branding?

Now designers will say that color is one of the most important branding cues (it is) and there’s plenty of research that says consumers shop by color (they do).

Well …

Other beverage brands have been successful in transitioning to clear PET with no serious or abrupt consumer crash.

Competitor Coca-Cola made the switch for Sprite in 2022, to many accolades.

Even more telling is that, in 2021, soft-drinks company Britvic rolled out clear bottles in the UK — for 7UP! Britvic bottled and distributed the brand on behalf of PepsiCo.

So you can leverage a brand’s colors in ways that go beyond bottle tint.

To prove the point, the image above shows how 7UP’s new design would look if the bottles were clear PET instead of green. I think the branding still works. But … if you wanted more of a color-block on shelf, make the label 4 or 6 inches high instead of 2 (ish). But … then add a perforation so the labels could be easily removed by the consumer before the bottle and cap are put in the recycle bin.

But is it responsible?

I see no reason why my preferred beverage can’t be packaged in clear PET. Will I keep buying the green bottles and recycle them? Probably! But I’ll grumble about the tint each time I do.

Mintel’s Global Packaging Director David Luttenberger said to me a couple years ago that, instead of calling packaging “sustainable,” we should call it “responsible” — but only when it is, of course.

KDP’s green PET bottles are recyclable and can be called sustainable. But, as sustainability in packaging morphs to emphasize true material circularity, can these tinted bottles be called responsible?

Not if we want to close the loop on packaging circularity.