Make Coca-Cola clean up its act!
The Issue
Coca-Cola, one of the biggest brands in the world, is also the world's biggest contributor to plastic pollution. The Break Free From Plastic 2021 brand audit (involving beach clean-ups in 45 countries) found the majority of litter to be from Coke's many brands - for the fourth year running. Coca Cola was closely followed by PepsiCo, Unilver, Nestle and ProcterGamble.
As the recent BBC Panorama documentary 'Coca-Cola's 100 billion bottle problem' revealed, despite their 2018 World Without Waste pledge, their plastic bottles continue to overwhelm our planet - impacting our environment, marine-life and human health to a devastating degree. Developing nations are bearing the brunt of the problem, with little to no infrastructure for collection/recycling. As the documentary showed, young children in Uganda are working as waste pickers on mountainous rubbish dumps - collecting plastic bottles for recycling, for as little as 4 pence a day. Where the plastic burden gets too much, communities resort to burning the rubbish - releasing toxins from the plastics which in turn cause respiratory disease and cancers.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0010zxs/panorama-cocacolas-100-billion-bottle-problem
The soft drinks industry produce 470 billion single-use plastic bottles each year, and Coca Cola alone produce a quarter of that. Production shows no signs of slowing, despite ostensibly positive changes - recycling initiatives, refillable/reusables, increasing proportions of recycled content-used in bottles etc. All of these measures enable Coca Cola to look like they are doing great things. The reality is that recycling falls way behind the production of new 'virgin' plastic, and is unlikely to ever catch up. Add to this the carbon emissions of producing the plastics in the first place, plus the fact that plastic can only be recycled around two times, and it is clear that change needs to happen - now.
In its 2020 World Without Waste Report, Coca Cola state their plan to reduce use of virgin plastic by 20% by 2025. They are clearly not in a hurry, nor in a panic. Let's imagine that current production rates as a whole were reduced by 20% - this would still mean that 376 billion single-use bottles would be produced annually. A staggering amount.
It is time to turn off the tap. This petition calls on the UK government to take the lead in legislating the soft drinks industry with binding targets for plastic reduction and finding genuinely green alternatives.
''Despite their promises to do better, the same corporate polluters make the brand audit list year after year. It is clear that we cannot rely on these companies to do the right thing. It's time for governments to step up and enact policies to reduce waste and hold producers accountable. Reducing plastic production is the only sure way to reduce plastic pollution, but our analysis of nationally determined contributions to the Paris Agreement (NDCs) shows that very few countries have made serious commitments to do so. Current investments in expanded plastic production mean that plastic will take upwards of 13% of the 1.5 degrees centigrade carbon budget by 2050. If world leaders do not take bold action to reduce plastic production, there is no way that we will meet the 1.5 target and avoid climate catastrophe.'' Neil Tangri, Science & Policy Director of GAIA
The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, recently said, 'What you have to do is to stop the production of plastic, stop the first use of plastic. The recycling thing is a red herring.''
This petition calls on the Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Secretary of State for the Environment George Eustice MP, to do just that, and take action on plastic - for ALL our sakes.
@HelenVplastic
Petition Closed
The Issue
Coca-Cola, one of the biggest brands in the world, is also the world's biggest contributor to plastic pollution. The Break Free From Plastic 2021 brand audit (involving beach clean-ups in 45 countries) found the majority of litter to be from Coke's many brands - for the fourth year running. Coca Cola was closely followed by PepsiCo, Unilver, Nestle and ProcterGamble.
As the recent BBC Panorama documentary 'Coca-Cola's 100 billion bottle problem' revealed, despite their 2018 World Without Waste pledge, their plastic bottles continue to overwhelm our planet - impacting our environment, marine-life and human health to a devastating degree. Developing nations are bearing the brunt of the problem, with little to no infrastructure for collection/recycling. As the documentary showed, young children in Uganda are working as waste pickers on mountainous rubbish dumps - collecting plastic bottles for recycling, for as little as 4 pence a day. Where the plastic burden gets too much, communities resort to burning the rubbish - releasing toxins from the plastics which in turn cause respiratory disease and cancers.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0010zxs/panorama-cocacolas-100-billion-bottle-problem
The soft drinks industry produce 470 billion single-use plastic bottles each year, and Coca Cola alone produce a quarter of that. Production shows no signs of slowing, despite ostensibly positive changes - recycling initiatives, refillable/reusables, increasing proportions of recycled content-used in bottles etc. All of these measures enable Coca Cola to look like they are doing great things. The reality is that recycling falls way behind the production of new 'virgin' plastic, and is unlikely to ever catch up. Add to this the carbon emissions of producing the plastics in the first place, plus the fact that plastic can only be recycled around two times, and it is clear that change needs to happen - now.
In its 2020 World Without Waste Report, Coca Cola state their plan to reduce use of virgin plastic by 20% by 2025. They are clearly not in a hurry, nor in a panic. Let's imagine that current production rates as a whole were reduced by 20% - this would still mean that 376 billion single-use bottles would be produced annually. A staggering amount.
It is time to turn off the tap. This petition calls on the UK government to take the lead in legislating the soft drinks industry with binding targets for plastic reduction and finding genuinely green alternatives.
''Despite their promises to do better, the same corporate polluters make the brand audit list year after year. It is clear that we cannot rely on these companies to do the right thing. It's time for governments to step up and enact policies to reduce waste and hold producers accountable. Reducing plastic production is the only sure way to reduce plastic pollution, but our analysis of nationally determined contributions to the Paris Agreement (NDCs) shows that very few countries have made serious commitments to do so. Current investments in expanded plastic production mean that plastic will take upwards of 13% of the 1.5 degrees centigrade carbon budget by 2050. If world leaders do not take bold action to reduce plastic production, there is no way that we will meet the 1.5 target and avoid climate catastrophe.'' Neil Tangri, Science & Policy Director of GAIA
The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, recently said, 'What you have to do is to stop the production of plastic, stop the first use of plastic. The recycling thing is a red herring.''
This petition calls on the Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Secretary of State for the Environment George Eustice MP, to do just that, and take action on plastic - for ALL our sakes.
@HelenVplastic
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Petition created on 15 November 2021