Already labeled the No. 1 plastic polluter in the world, Coca-Cola faced new scrutiny after a study found that, based on current trends, the company's annual plastic use will exceed a mind-boggling 9.1 billion pounds by 2030.
What's happening?
Oceana, which conducted the study, determined that, unless Coca-Cola significantly changes its practices, its plastic use by 2030 will be 40% higher than in 2018 and 20% higher than 2023.
Of the 9.1 billion pounds of plastic Coca-Cola is projected to produce, Oceana estimates that 1.3 billion pounds will end up in waterways and oceans every single year.
The problem, according to Oceana, is Coca-Cola's addiction to single-use plastic packaging.
"Coca-Cola's future is currently tied, like an albatross around its neck, to single-use plastic," said Matt Littlejohn, Oceana's senior vice president. "Single-use plastic is bad for the oceans, human health, and business. Recycling can't solve the company's out-of-control plastic problem. Reuse can."
While Coca-Cola has pledged to increase the use of recycled plastic in its single-use packaging, Oceana said that this is insufficient, as it does little to curb the flow of single-use waste.
"Single-use plastic bottles made with recycled content can — just like bottles made of virgin plastic — still become marine pollution and harm ocean life," said Oceana's Littlejohn.
Why is plastic waste important?
Plastic pollution, much of it from single-use packaging, has permeated the far reaches of our planet, from the oceans to the arctic to the top of Mount Everest to even inside our own bodies.
While the full consequences of this widespread pollution are as yet unknown, we have strong indications already that the impacts on our health, our food supply, and our ecosystem could be devastating.
For example, researchers found that microplastics interfere with bees' ability to pollinate plants, both by impacting pollinator behavior and by literally clogging up flowers. Without pollinators and pollination, agriculture becomes impossible, and the human food supply would collapse.
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Definitely 👍 Further, while there is still much to learn about the impact of microplastics on living organisms, one study using mice showed that microplastics in drinking water ended up in the animals' brains, causing cognitive decline akin to the effects of dementia.
What's being done about plastic pollution?
While there is no one magic solution to plastic pollution, there are a number of steps that corporations and individuals can take to reduce the amount of plastic waste that ends up in the environment.
One solution, according to Oceana, is for companies like Coca-Cola to adopt reusable packaging. If Coca-Cola were to increase its use of reusable packaging from 10.2% in 2023 to 26.4% by 2030, this would be sufficient for Coca-Cola to "bend its plastic curve," Oceana found.
With reusable plastic bottles capable of being reused up to 25 times and reusable glass bottles 50 times, the potential for reusable packaging to reduce the amount of single-use plastic waste is clear.
Despite Coca-Cola's reputation as the world's largest plastic polluter, the company has taken some steps to limit its environmental impact. For example, Coca-Cola has attempted to limit the impact of its water use by aiming "to return 100% of the total water used in each of the more than 200 high-risk locations across the Coca-Cola System," according to a December 2024 statement.
However, given Coca-Cola's ongoing and growing plastic pollution, some critics have accused the company of greenwashing.
"The Coca-Cola Company's plastic use and status as one of the most famous plastic polluters in the world is a liability for the future of the company, the oceans, and the planet," said Oceana's Littlejohn.
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