Our health is seriously damaged by plastic and the chemicals in it
Minderoo Foundation releases new report: Our health is seriously damaged by plastic and the chemicals in it.
Coca-Cola Largest Plastic Polluter
Amsterdam, 10 October 2018 – Worldwide research into the origin of plastic waste has identified Coca-Cola as the worst plastic polluter. More details on the research, based on the 239 cleanups that took place in 42 countries this year, can be found in the report Branded. In search of the world’s top corporate plastic polluters, compiled by Break Free From Plastic (BFFP). And their press release is available here.
About 10,000 volunteers picked up and identified the brand of over 187,000 pieces of plastic trash. The three most frequently registered brands are Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé. And overall, polystyrene was the most common type of plastic found, followed closely by PET.
This report stresses the need for multinationals to take responsibility for the end stage of their products and not place the responsibility for plastic waste on the shoulders of consumers and (local) authorities. To avert the plastic soup crisis more products should be sold without plastic packaging or the packaging should be reusable.
Despite all their grand talk about the circular economy, multinational companies, producing food, beverages, cosmetics and cleaning products continue to offer their products in single-use plastic packaging. BFFP urges multinationals to drastically reduce their use of single-use plastics and really take their responsibility.
The top polluters in Asia are Western multinationals. These brands are, according to the report, responsible for 30% of the plastic pollution. In 2017, during a cleanup of a beach in Manila (Philippines) 54,260 pieces of plastic were collected and audited. This 2017 brand audit found Nestlé and Unilever to be the largest polluters.
Global Coordinator of Break Free From Plastic, Von Hernandez: “By continuing to churn out problematic and unrecyclable throwaway plastic packaging for their products, these companies are guilty of trashing the planet on a massive scale. It’s time they own up and stop shifting the blame to citizens for their wasteful and polluting products.”
Also read: Unilever largest polluter in the Philippines
More news
Read more
FUTURE FABRICS EXPO LONDEN
On June 25 and 26, the Future Fabrics Expo 2024 took place in London. The thrust of this fair is to show that it is quite possible to make clothes from sustainable materials.
IN MEMORIAM – Dick Vethaak
On June two, 2024, Professor Dick Vethaak passed away. With him is lost a great and progressive scientist, but above all, a wonderful husband and father.
Towards a global Plastic Treaty
By the end of this year, there should be a global plastic treaty that will stop plastic pollution of our planet. To achieve this, the United Nations environment department is organising the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee on Plastic Pollution negotiations. The 4th round, INC4, took place in Ottawa Canada. The new plastics treaty is considered one of the most important environmental agreements made since the Paris climate accords in 2015. The stakes are high and that was evident in Ottawa.
