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“Coca-Cola will not ditch single-use plastic bottles because consumers still want them. Customers like them because they reseal and are lightweight.”

                                                                                        – Bea Perez

Welcome back to another week of blog content where we learn more about plastic pollution. In today’s post, we will be addressing the topic of plastic waste generation by global brands.

Coca-Cola has been ranked as the top polluter for the 4th consecutive year (Break free from plastic, 2021). But is the company solely to blame?

According to Bea Perez, the head of sustainability at the Coca-Cola company, Coke has made efforts to do more for the environment by pledging to use at least 50% recycled material in its packaging by 2030 (Thomas, 2020). It has also partnered with NGOs around the world to help improve the (re)collection of its plastic bottles from wastes. Although this is clearly not enough, Perez has gone on to state that the company could not abandon plastic outright as this would alienate customers and affect sales. Aluminium and glass packaging could push up the firm’s carbon footprint as well. Most importantly, she mentioned that “Business won’t be in business if we don’t accommodate consumers” (Thomas, 2020).

So what does this all mean?

Clearly, consumers of Coca-Cola products have an equal role to play as well. As much as we want them to reduce the amount of plastic generated, we consumers must send a strong signal as well. Only when we start reducing the demand for plastic bottle products would global companies such as Coca-Cola adopt a greener practice.

As such, please reconsider before you grab a (plastic) bottle of coke. Be the change you want to see!

References

Break free from plastic. (2021, October 25). The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo named top plastic polluters for the fourth year in a row. Retrieved January 27 from https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/2021/10/25/the-coca-cola-company-and-pepsico-named-top-plastic-polluters-for-the-fourth-year-in-a-row/

Thomas, D. (2020, January 21). Davos 2020: People still want plastic bottles, says Coca-Cola. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51197463