Coke the world’s ‘top plastic polluter’

By The Nation

 

 

Corporate giants Coca-Cola, Nestlé, and PepsiCo are the world’s top plastic polluters, according to Break Free From Plastics, an organisation that collaborates with private sectors around the world, including Greenpeace, to conserve the environment.

 

Break Free From Plastics last month organised major cleaning activities in 51 countries. Almost 500,000 pieces of wastes were collected and 43 per cent of them were from Coca-Cola, making the organisation rank it the top global plastic polluter.

 

Coca-Cola produces more plastic waste in 37 countries on four continents than Nestlé and PepsiCo combined. The other global plastic polluters are Unilever, Mars, P&G, Colgate-Palmolive, Phillip Morris, and Perfetti Van Melle.

 

“Break Free From Plastic’s nearly 1,800 member organisations are calling on corporations to urgently reduce their production of single-use plastic and find innovative solutions focused on alternative delivery systems that do not create pollution,” said Von Hernandez, global coordinator of the Break Free From Plastic movement.

 

A spokesperson for Nestlé said that the company now understood its role in solving plastic pollution issues for sustainability and would put every effort to make packaging that could be recycled and reused by 2023. Meanwhile, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo together with the other mentioned companies have also vowed to make similar moves.

 

However, Abigail Aguilar, Greenpeace Southeast Asia plastic campaign coordinator, said that it was a false solution to replace plastic with paper or bioplastics and rely more heavily on a broken global recycling system. "These strategies largely protect the outdated throwaway business model that caused the plastic pollution crisis and will do nothing to prevent these brands from being named the top polluters again in the future," she said.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30377739

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-10-25

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Thanks for the pollution and diabetes.

Enjoy a Coke.

Pepsi’s upcoming advertising should be interesting. 

Perfect harmony 

 

 

46 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

Coke the world’s ‘top plastic polluter’

Doing well, the world's greatest stomach polluter also!  

These companies are all "top polluters" because lots of people buy their products. But alas, we must demonize the bright, shiny objects, evil corporations.

2 minutes ago, Crazy Alex said:

These companies are all "top polluters" because lots of people buy their products. But alas, we must demonize the bright, shiny objects, evil corporations.

Wow where did you come from? I have been running around her with a latern looking for another honest man!

 

Clearly all the ills of the world are caused by the evil corporations that lead us by the nose.

perhaps Nyezhov mistakes what Crazy Alex means.  Crazy Alex is pointing out that most of us make up simple narratives, with an evil face in it.  instead of pointing the finger at our dumb selves.  look at the bigger issue, whereas everything we do and consume involves GHG emissions yet even the folks like Extinction Rebellion in the UK will point a finger at "fossil fuel companies".  but Extinction Rebellion's plan is that after they "win" the politician's attention, they will ask for "people's assemblies" to be set up to solve the extinction problem.  but that is nonsense because we already have had "people assemblies" work on this and come up with nothing really and..... what they are doing is avoiding mentioning all of the consumer stuff ('bright shiny objects'), especially air travel and tourism, which if they had not been passing the buck on.... and mentioned directly... Extinction Rebellion would never have even gotten started.  they'd have lost their ranks... Climate "believers"  have always been quite ready to talk about 'evil corporations' and share their feelings such as Greta Thunberg's "lost dreams" but as soon as anyone mentions anything stronger than CORSIA offsets... beginning in 2027... on only some air travel... they would all go home and disappear in 2 secs. 

[ if you are familiar with what happened this month in the UK.... all but Roger Hallam would have gone home.  but notice, Hallam had been ejected into a "splinter group".... as well as busted in a cafe days before anything got started. hmmmm... more evidence of the above?  I think so, he should have always been front and center of the group.  with the other beginners of XR.  ]  

Edited October 25, 20196 yr by WeekendRaider

make them pay for the cleanup ?

 

here at our home, we did not buy any PLASTIC water bottle in years

 

we use a reverse osmosis water filter and glass bottles for home and stainless drinking to drink outdoors...

 

before we used 12+ big water bottles per week...

 

I can say we are saving money on expensive water in plastic bottles and the environment

With such a high sugar content, Coke has probably done in more people than mosquitoes ????

Can anyone else say glass bottles please.

 

Not only will itvsave the environment but it will give poor people another means of income

When I was a kid, coke bottles had a return value.

 

’Cocacola’ and other soda/beer businesses provided customers with an economic inventive to return bottles which were then reused by the drink companies.

 

These businesses moved away from that business model to disposable plastic bottles while at the same time stopping re-use and economic incentives for re-use.

 

These businesses have stripped out re-use and the result is polluting plastics.

 

Let’s blame the consumers.

Anyone remember these.................

Sixpence, or a tanner, (depending were you were dragged up) deposit, refunded on return, 

Milk delivered in glass bottles, by an electric cart.

Fish and chips in newspaper with a wooden fork,

brown paper bags in the shops,

 

Should Coke have to pay some (massive) reparations to repair the damage they have done. 

1 hour ago, phantomfiddler said:

With such a high sugar content, Coke has probably done in more people than mosquitoes ????

Quantity of sugar in Coke decreased a lot in last decade (depending of countries though).

Now less sugar in Coke than in pure orange juice !

45 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

Should Coke have to pay some (massive) reparations to repair the damage they have done. 

Surely you jest.

These ( solid ) plastic bottles are perfectly re-useable . After the bottle is empty , i would like to take it back to where I bought it and refill it ( by a dispenser ) . That would certainly reduce the plastic waste and the cost of it as well ...

 

16 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

Clearly all the ills of the world are caused by the evil corporations that lead us by the nose.

There is something true with that ...!

11 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Surely you jest.

Why?

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

When I was a kid, coke bottles had a return value.

 

’Cocacola’ and other soda/beer businesses provided customers with an economic inventive to return bottles which were then reused by the drink companies.

 

These businesses moved away from that business model to disposable plastic bottles while at the same time stopping re-use and economic incentives for re-use.

 

These businesses have stripped out re-use and the result is polluting plastics.

 

Let’s blame the consumers.

Coke still has this model in place here and it's the only way I buy coke and it also tastes better.

"The Times They Are A Changin"...

Can anyone else say glass bottles please.
 
Not only will itvsave the environment but it will give poor people another means of income

Off the top of my head I like that idea of the return to the reusable glass bottle... but... a few questions cross my mind...

1) is the shelf life as good (as long) as that of a comparable plastic bottle? I mean while I suspect most Coke (and comparable beverages) are consumed well before their “best before” date, what I wonder is, is the seal of a glass bottle and metal (with thin rubber/plastic seal) bottle cap as good as what we see of today’s plastic bottles? If it’s not, then I think that’s an issue that the production management side will have to address

2) increase distribution costs... quite simply the weight of a glass bottle is substantially higher than a comparable sized plastic bottle... therefore what’s the impact on the distribution network? I mean if it takes more fuel burn to carry and distribute a heavier albeit post-consumer recyclable product container, is that a worthwhile trade off?

3) large scale logistics of post-consumer use glass bottles? What’s the plan to cost effectively collect and ultimately recycle said bottles over a large, large scale? ... and whatever those costs are, who will pay it (directly or indirectly) or how are they paid? If the bottle just ends up getting “tossed” I think that it’s true you won’t have as much ocean plastics anymore, but I don’t think it really closes the loop in terms of creating a truly environmentally conscious cycle either


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3 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

Can anyone else say glass bottles please.

 

Not only will itvsave the environment but it will give poor people another means of income

It is a better, more flavorful product too. For whatever reason they use actual sugar in the bottles and not the corn syrup or whatever it is. 

Edited October 26, 20196 yr by illiterate

 

18 hours ago, Crazy Alex said:

These companies are all "top polluters" because lots of people buy their products. But alas, we must demonize the bright, shiny objects, evil corporations.

Well, most market places in Asia and other parts of the so-called developing World would surely give Coke a real run for their money in this respect.

 

I also wonder whether there might be more creative ways of getting corporations to make some very necessary changes. If they set a good example, others will undoubtedly follow. But we have heard so much <deleted> about how governments are 'bad' in recent years, you really wonder who is now left to force them to change.  And it seems public opinion is not enough on its own. Coke may want to have us believe they are being demonised, but they are hardly suffering from it. If you really want to talk about demonisation, try thinking about the people who regularly get hounded out of town for having a few slight socialist tendencies. They are lucky to escape with their lives quite often, whereas the nearest thing to suffering in the corporate world is not much more than their demonic laughter all the way to the bank.

3 hours ago, phantomfiddler said:

With such a high sugar content, Coke has probably done in more people than mosquitoes ????

Love it, but no longer drink a 2 liter bottle or more a day. now only 20 oz a day.

40 minutes ago, illiterate said:

It is a better, more flavorful product too. For whatever reason they use actual sugar in the bottles and not the corn syrup or whatever it is. 

But only 9 spoonfulls! ????

34 minutes ago, White Christmas13 said:

 

 

 

Coca-Cola, Orange juice : Sugar Same Same  

2 hours ago, stevenl said:

Why?

Um, well simply because  thats something a 12 year old brainwashed kid would say.

8 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Um, well simply because  thats something a 12 year old brainwashed kid would say.

Strongly disagree. You pollute, you pay.