Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestle, and Procter and Gamble are some of the corporations targeted by a new environmental lawsuit.
Itβs likely that at some point in 2019 you saw the cloying ads by the Coca-Cola company littering buses and tube stations which declare the beverage conglomerate is βinvesting in new technologies to recycle in unrecyclableβ.
Like many companies today, Coca-Cola is trying to get on top of the outcry against climate change and plastic pollution by proving their woke credentials. Single-use plastic items, like soft drink bottles, are one of the most polluting materials in the world today, choking global landfills and wreaking havoc on aquatic ecosystems, and Coke are eager to demonstrate theyβre doing something about this. Itβs a shame itβs all bullocks.
A 2018 report found that globally, Coke, Pepsi, and Nestle account for 14% of all plastic pollution. Moreover, recent studies suggest that of the plastic produced since the 1950s, 91% of it hasnβt been recycled, and many of the plastic bottles that claim theyβre recyclable end up in landfill anyway. Itβs impossible that these companies arenβt aware of these stats, yet they continue with these misleading marketing campaigns. And The Bay Area environmental organisation Earth Island Institute is calling them out on it.
Earth Island has filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against ten companies, alleging that they pollute waterways, coasts, and oceans with millions of tons of plastic packaging a year. They hope that, if the lawsuit goes through, the court will order these organisations to pay to clean up polluted areas, and to stop labelling products that canβt be process in most recycling plants as βrecyclableβ. Earlier this month Greenpeace found that US recycling facilities can only process a fraction of the types of plastic that get sent there.