In Global Audit For Plastic Waste, Coca Cola, Pepsi & Nestle Found To Be Top Polluters

Data compiled by the global environmental organization Break Free From Plastic, Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo and Nestl¨¦ have topped the world's biggest plastic polluters, third year in a row.

Inside Waste

American brand Coca-Cola was ranked the world¡¯s number one plastic polluter by Break Free From Plastic in its annual audit.

Coke bottles were the most frequently found discarded on beaches, rivers, parks and other public places in 51 of 55 nations surveyed. It fared worse than PepsiCo and Nestl¨¦ combined as Coca-Cola branding was found on 13,834 pieces of plastic, while PepsiCo branding was on 5,155 and Nestl¨¦ branding was on 8,633 pieces of plastic.

Image For Representation/AP

This year¡¯s audit was undertaken by 15,000 volunteers and collected more than 346,000 pieces of plastic waste, of which nearly two-thirds of the total plastic (63%) was labelled by a clear consumer brand. Other brands that made the top ten list in the report include Unilever, Mondelez, Mars, Procter & Gamble, Philip Morris, Colgate-Palmolive and Perfetti Van Melle.

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Emma Priestland, Break Free From Plastic¡¯s global campaign coordinator, said that the world¡¯s top polluting corporations claim to be dedicated towards solving plastic pollution, but instead they are continuing to pump out harmful single-use plastic packaging.

According to Emma, the only way to halt the growing global tide of plastic litter was to stop production, phase out single use and implement reuse systems.

Image For Representation/Reuters

¡°Multinational brands like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestl¨¦ should be leading the way in finding real solutions to reinvent how they deliver their products,¡± she said. Up to 91 percent of all the plastic waste ever generated has not been recycled and ended up being incinerated, in landfill or in the natural environment, according to a 2017 study.

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The 2020 global audit of branded plastic waste also revealed that single-use sachets, which are used to sell small volumes of products such as ketchup, coffee and shampoo, were the most commonly found type of item, followed by cigarette butts, then plastic bottles.

Break Free From Plastic said the top three companies on the list, well known for the plastic bottles used to package their product, have made the list every year since the group's first brand audit for plastic polluters was conducted in 2018.

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