Karmactive Staff
Coca-Cola, named the world’s top plastic polluter for six consecutive years, is under fire for abandoning its reusable packaging targets while its plastic waste continues to grow.
Environmental groups are sounding alarms after Coca-Cola quietly dropped its promise to make 25% of its packaging reusable by 2030. The beverage giant announced this change in December 2024, replacing it with weaker goals focused on recycled content and partial bottle collection by 2035.
The numbers paint a troubling picture. Coca-Cola produces between 120-137 billion single-use plastic bottles annually. A recent Oceana report forecasts the company’s plastic footprint could reach 9.1 billion pounds by 2030 – a 20% increase from 2023 levels. More concerning is the projection that up to 602,000 metric tons of this plastic could enter waterways annually.
“Coca-Cola bombards consumers with its recycling messages but is using more virgin plastic each year,” said Sam Pearse, campaigns director at the Story of Stuff Project, whose organization recently created a massive sand art message on San Francisco’s Ocean Beach calling attention to the issue.
Campaigners argue that recycling alone cannot solve the crisis. Break Free From Plastic’s annual brand audits, conducted by volunteers across 41 countries, consistently find Coca-Cola products as the most common branded waste in the environment. In 2023, they collected a record-breaking 33,820 pieces of Coca-Cola plastic waste.
“Instead of making good on its own pledge to shift to 25% reusable bottles, Coca-Cola quietly dropped its pledge last November,” said Judith Enck, former EPA regional administrator and president of Beyond Plastics. “Ironically, the company’s pilot program in El Paso, Texas, has spent the last few years proving that refillable bottles can, in fact, replace single-use plastic ones.”
That pilot program, now expanded to San Antonio, demonstrates that reusable bottles reduce waste, save money, create local jobs, and satisfy customers. Advocates point out that Coca-Cola already sells billions of reusable bottles globally, with reuse representing 10.2% of its packaging mix in 2023.
According to Oceana’s analysis, if Coca-Cola were to reach 26.4% reusable packaging by 2030, the company could “bend the plastic curve” and reduce its total plastic use below current levels. This matters because reusable bottles can be used up to 50 times (if glass) or 25 times (if plastic), preventing dozens of single-use bottles from being manufactured.
The health implications are also gaining attention. Campaigners note that plastic production and pollution have been linked to serious health concerns including cancer, infertility, and heart disease, although specific claims require further scientific validation.
The situation in Samoa highlights the global impact. In 2021, Coca-Cola dismantled the island’s functional circular glass bottle system, replacing it with single-use plastic bottles that now pollute the island. This prompted a United Nations Special Rapporteur to write to the company in March about the human rights implications of this decision.
Coca-Cola’s new environmental goals aim to use 30-35% recycled plastic in its bottles by 2035 and collect 70-75% of the equivalent number of bottles and cans produced annually. Critics note this collection target is lower than the EU’s requirement of 90% collection for plastic bottles by 2029.
A petition with more than 58,000 signatures urges Coca-Cola to reinstate its reuse targets and support deposit return programs. As World Clean Up Day approaches, campaigners hope increased public awareness will push the company to expand its reusable bottle systems rather than continuing its reliance on single-use plastic.
