COP 27 sponsor Coca-Cola is the worst global plastic polluter, reveals new report

Who are the world's top polluting corporations? According to the latest brand audit report by 'Break Free From Plastic', a global collective against plastic pollution, the Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Unilever, and Mondelez make up for the worst global plastic polluters of the last five years. The results paint the most unflattering picture for Coca-Cola which is also the sponsor for the ongoing COP 27 or the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Egypt.

Since 2018, global cleanups and brand audits have been carried out by more than 2,00,000 volunteers in 87 countries and territories to identify the companies polluting the most places with the most plastic waste. Over all five years, 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 found in 2018. Given that 99 per cent of plastic is made from fossil fuels, Coca-Cola’s role in COP27 baffles environmental activists.

Break Free From Plastic’s latest global brand audit report 'The 2022 Brand Audit' analyses five years' worth of citizen science trash-collection data, exposing how corporate voluntary commitments are not effectively reducing the devastating environmental impacts caused by these companies. In response, activists around the world are calling for a Global Plastics Treaty that can provide legally-binding enforcement policies to reduce the amount of plastic both produced and used by corporations.

Activists worldwide are commemorating a five-year 'Trashiversary' for these polluting companies by mailing or delivering their own waste to them to demand urgent action. The actions took place on November 15, targeting Coca-Cola in Bangladesh, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, the US, and Zambia; Unilever in Indonesia, the United Kingdom, and South Africa; and PepsiCo in India and Tanzania.

In 2018, the same year that brand audits efforts started, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the United Nations Environment Programme together launched the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment. This programme centered on a set of voluntary commitments to address plastic pollution made by major fast-moving consumer goods companies, including most of the top plastic polluters. However, the 'Global Commitment 2022 Progress Report' revealed that their 2025 targets will “almost certainly” not be met. For many of these companies, the use of plastic packaging has actually increased since joining the Global Commitment, exposing how voluntary actions are not leading to any kind of significant impact on plastic reduction.

Considering the failing voluntary commitments of many of the major plastic polluting companies, the Break Free From Plastic movement is calling for an ambitious, legally-binding Global Plastics Treaty. The first treaty negotiation meeting will be held in Punta Del Este, Uruguay, at the end of the month.

Von Hernandez, global coordinator, Break Free From Plastic, said, “Instead of allowing companies like Coke to greenwash their image, governments need to compel polluters to invest in reuse and alternative product delivery systems that avoid the problem in the first place. This is one of the key systemic changes required for the world to avert the full consequences of climate change and plastic pollution."

In India, 24 organisations conducted 98 events in 34 cities to document more than two lakh (2,01,543) plastic items. Data reveals the top three plastic polluters in India as PepsiCo with 19,093 pieces; CG foods India Pvt Ltd with 8,420 pieces; and Perfitti Van Melle with 7,813 pieces. Food packaging and household products are the most common product types causing plastic pollution in India.