Coca-Cola has come under fire again for greenwashing practices during United Nations negotiations to limit global plastic production. 

A Colombian lawmaker accused the company and its industry partners of quietly working to weaken the proposed treaty aimed at curbing the growing plastic waste crisis, according to Vorágine.

What's happening?

Congressman Juan Carlos Losada, who helped conceive Colombia's single-use plastics ban, said beverage giants are greenwashing their image by publicly supporting sustainability while lobbying against measures that would actually reduce plastic output. 

"Everything that thread says is absolutely false. They've never been interested in anything good at all, they have a business to take care of, period. That's what they do." Losada told Vorágine, referring to a now-deleted social media post about a lobbyist representing Coca-Cola at the talks.

Per the Vorágine report, Santiago Lopez Jaramillo, the former executive of Colombia's National Business Association and current regional head of the International Council of Beverage Associations, represented Coca-Cola and Pepsi at the United Nations treaty discussions in Geneva. 

Lopez promoted what he called a "circular model," a framework that emphasizes recycling over cutting plastic production, which means prioritizing industry profits over the health of our environment. 

Colombia's Ministry of the Environment said the plastic pollution crisis stems from "structural overproduction," and Losada backed that assessment, citing from the report, "It has been more than proven that recycling is not the way. Only 9% of the plastics on the planet placed on the market have been recycled; another 13% have been incinerated. That is, 78% of plastics have not been recycled and have become microplastics that pose a serious risk to human health."

Why is reducing production important?

The concern isn't new. A World Wide Fund for Nature report noted that plastic straws and similar waste can take up to 200 years to decompose, underscoring how long corporate waste lingers once it's produced. Making matters worse, scientists have detected microplastic particles in our food and even in human blood, raising concerns about long-term exposure and environmental health risks. 

The allegations come after Coca-Cola has faced criticism for walking back key sustainability goals. In 2023, a report revealed that the company had fallen behind on its pledge to increase the use of refillable and reusable bottles — bad news given Coca-Cola's record as one of the world's largest producers of branded plastic waste. 

The contradiction shows how companies can publicly commit to eco-targets while privately lobbying to preserve the old system that fuels their profits — a hallmark of greenwashing. 

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What's being done about single-use plastics?

Some Coca-Cola initiatives have proved that there is room for improvement and accountability. The company has funded the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup, which uses drones and remotely operated vehicles to collect plastic waste from North American waterways. 

"We are proud to support Pollution Probe on this important initiative," the company said in a statement about the project. 

But such efforts, while helpful, address only the symptoms of a much larger problem: the sheer volume of plastic bottles Coca-Cola continues to produce each year. Therefore, people are pushing for a stronger response. Colombia's National Plan for Sustainable Single-Use Plastics Management was announced in 2022, with the goal of making all single-use plastics reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2030. 

"They 'greenwash' to show that their industry cares about the environment, which is the primary cause of plastic pollution on the planet." Losada said.

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