The green bottle used to be Sprite's calling card. But these days, the soda comes in a clear bottle for reasons other than pure aesthetics.

Coca-Cola Co.'s announcement that it will start producing the soft drink Sprite in clear instead of green bottles has recycling managers smiling. But why celebrate such a seemingly minor change?

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Green plastic bottles of Sprite lined up on a shelf - VIVEK PAYGUDE/Shutterstock You may not have thought about it or even noticed ...