After a controversial sponsorship of COP27, Coca-Cola has been named the worst plastic polluter five years in a row, according to 2022 Break Free From Plastic’s latest global brand audit report.
The top three contenders were The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo and Nestlé, all of whom have maintained their top positions for five years. The creators of the audit say the aim of the report is to expose how voluntary corporate commitments are not effectively reducing companies’ environmental footprints.“The recent brand audit is once again showing who the real polluters are. These companies are falling short of their promises, but we are not reducing our commitment to advocate for Zero Waste,” says Froilan Grate, Asia Pacific regional coordinator, Global Alliance at Incinerator Alternatives.
Data and trash collection
Break Free From Plastic analyzes five years’ worth of science trash-collection data to gather the results. Since 2018, more than 200,000 volunteers have carried out global cleanups in 87 countries and territories to identify the companies polluting the places with the most plastic waste.
More Coca-Cola Company branded items were collected than the next two top polluters combined. This year’s brand audits found more than 31,000 Coca-Cola branded products, doubling the proportion of Coca-Cola products in 2018.
“The world’s top plastic polluters have littered the planet with plastic waste – and marked it clearly with their name,” says Rosa Pritchard, a plastics lawyer at ClientEarth.
Call for treaty
Activists around the world, Break Free From Plastic included, are calling for the implementation of a Global Plastics Treaty. The treaty would provide legally-binding mechanisms and enforcement policies to reduce the amount of plastic produced and used by corporations.
“Governments worldwide now have the justification and opportunity to address effectively and reverse the plastic pollution crisis by coming up with a global plastics treaty that cuts plastic production, makes corporations accountable for the pollution they are causing and mainstreams reuse-based alternatives,” voices Von Hernandez, global coordinator at Break Free From Plastic.
Ornela Garelli, oceans and plastics campaigner for Greenpeace México, calls on Coca-Cola to “advocate for an ambitious global plastics treaty that limits plastic production and accelerates a just transition to a reuse economy.”
The first treaty negotiation meeting will be held in Punta Del Este, Uruguay, at the end of this month. Packaging Insights - link - Sabine Waldeck - link - more like this (packaging pollution) - link - more like this (Coca Cola) - link - more like this (Not a lot of COP) - link
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