A Call to Action for Coca Cola!
Coca Cola is one of the biggest companies in the world and was the world’s biggest plastic polluter for the fourth year in a row in 2021. This was confirmed by Break Free From Plastic’s annual 2021 report. Coca Cola produces over 120 billion plastic bottles every year with many of these harmful products ending up in our oceans, polluting waterways, our ecosystems, our kai and our people. This multinational company has also come under fire for their placement of petrochemical manufacturing plants around vulnerable communities; polluting the land and peoples lives. Having infrastructure that produces toxic plastic waste located downstream from communities is a truly horrendous idea.
Our Res.Awesome followers know by now we are amidst a global plastic crisis. Microplastic and plastic waste has become inescapable - with more plastic still being produced. If you are keen to read more about not-so-fantastic plastic, check out our previous blog post. The Coca-Cola Company have recently announced they will aim to make 25% of their global packaging reusable by 2030. This would involve having their product sold in refillable/reusable glass or plastic bottles. Or, in refillable containers which could be refilled again and again through traditional fountain mechanisms and Coca Cola dispensers.
Coca Cola is one of over 70 participants (including governments around the world) who have signed a statement calling for an ambitious global treaty to address the massive issue of plastic pollution. The Ellen MacCarthur Foundation released a report titled ‘Reuse; Rethinking Packaging’, in which they found that converting 20% of global plastic packaging into reuse models would be a $10 billion business opportunity that would greatly benefit both customers and businesses. Sometimes a price tag is more effective at changing the behaviour of big businesses - as following their conscience clearly hasn’t been working!
While this is a step in the right direction, we believe this huge, multinational company could do more. We can’t help but feel like the most recent plan from Coca Cola may be another greenwashing tactic; to make them appear environmentally minded and sustainability focused to increase consumer loyalty. We hope we are wrong. Along with Greenpeace we are encouraging this company to increase their commitment to something more substantial - how about 100%? For one of the world’s worst polluters (for a really long time!) we believe the company should allocate more of its resources to ensuring they undo some of the damage they have caused our natural world and those who inhabit it.
Greenpeace Aotearoa, Takeaway Throwaways, Res.Awesome and countless other organisations have been calling for the NZ GOVT to ban single use plastic bottles and mandate refill/reuse solutions like the Kiwi Bottle Drive.
