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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/mar/27/coca-cola-plastic-waste-in-oceans-expected-to-reach-602m-kilograms-a-year-by-2030>
"By 2030, Coca-Cola products will account for an estimated 602m kilograms of
plastic waste entering the world’s oceans and waterways each year, according to
a stark new analysis published Wednesday by the non-profit Oceana.
That is enough plastic to fill the stomachs of 18m whales.
The report arrives amid mounting concerns over the human health risks posed by
the spread of microplastics, which scientists increasingly link to cancer,
infertility and heart disease.
“Coca-Cola is by far the largest manufacturer and seller of beverages in the
world,” said Matt Littlejohn, who leads Oceana’s campaigns targeting corporate
polluters.
“Because of that, they really matter when it comes to the impact of all this on
the ocean.”
Coca-Cola ranks as the world’s top branded plastic polluter, followed by
PepsiCo, Nestlé, Danone and Altria, according to a 2024 study published in
Science Advances.
Oceana’s estimate is based on Coca-Cola’s publicly reported packaging data from
2018 to 2023, combined with sales growth forecasts to create a
“business-as-usual” scenario.
The result: the company’s plastic use is projected to exceed 4.13m tons
annually by 2030.
To estimate how much of that plastic will reach aquatic ecosystems, researchers
applied a peer-reviewed method developed by an international team of scientists
and published in the academic journal
Science in 2020 to arrive at the 602m
kg estimate, which is equivalent to nearly 220bn half-litre bottles.
For Oceana, the clearest solution to reduce this staggering figure lies in
bringing back reusable packaging – whether in the form of returnable glass
bottles, which can be reused 50 times, or thicker PET plastic containers, which
are designed for 25 uses.
Coca-Cola itself acknowledged in 2022 that reusable packaging was “among the
most effective ways to reduce waste” and committed to a goal of reaching 25%
packaging by 2030.
But that pledge was quietly dropped in its latest sustainability roadmap,
released in December 2024."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
