“Double standard” games? Environmentalists slam plastic reduction claims at Paris 2024

14 Aug 2024 --- While organizers of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games had promised “waste-free” games with “zero plastic,” “the reality couldn’t be further from these statements,” according to Bénédicte Kjaer Kahlat, legal officer at Zero Waste France.

But Coca-Cola, the main sponsor of the international sporting event, has responded to the allegations, defending its environmental efforts. 

Kjaer Kahlat says that at certain venues’ drinks stands run by Coca-Cola, servers were seen filling plastic reusable, so-called “eco-cups,” with beverages from 50 cL plastic bottles, which led to the vendors amassing sacks of empty plastic bottles. 

Environmental campaigners said millions of plastic drink bottles being “needlessly poured into millions of plastic cups” was a “double use of plastic” and amounted to “greenwashing.”

Kjaer Kahlat tells Packaging Insights that she identifies a “double standard” associated with the international event, noting government officials — including the mayor of Paris — promoted swimming in the Seine river, despite its poor water quality. Several athletes have since fallen sick as a result.  

“At the same time, there was a lack of will to generalize the use of plastic-free solutions in a country with a functioning and reliable drinking water network.”

Single-use under scrutiny

In 2023, according to the Break Free From Plastic network, of which Zero Waste France is a member, Coca-Cola was the single biggest plastic polluter. Yet, once again, the brand was granted exclusivity in the distribution and sale of beverages during the games. 

Kjaer Kahlat stresses: “When the financial and operational sponsors of such events are some of the world’s biggest polluters, how can civil society expect real commitment?”

Kjaer Kahlat says the Olympics were influenced by double standards, letting sportsmen swim in the Seine while not enforcing “plastic-free” in a country with established infrastructure (Image credit: Paris 2024 Official).In April, a confidential document of the Organizing Committee was leaked, according to Kjaer Kahlat, revealing that more than half of the expected 18 million beverages distributed or sold during the games would come from single-use plastic bottles. 

The document showed that drinks served from plastic bottles would be presented to the public in reusable eco-cups. 

Kjaer Kahlat says that the games’ Organizing Committee and Coca-Cola can justify their operations by arguing that three-fourths of the drinks were supplied to consumers without “handing out” single-use plastic containers. 

“The fact that plastic bottles were not directly handed to consumers doesn’t change anything.”

Last month, in an open letter shared with Packaging Insights, over 100 sports organizations and elite global athletes called for Coca-Cola, Pepsi and bottler Coca-Cola Europacific Partners at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games to significantly increase reusable packaging options.

Reuse failure?

The Organizing Committee and Coca-Cola’s reuse strategy relied on the installation of fountains and reusable and returnable cups. Coca-Cola claims that 700 fountains were installed for the games but commentators reportedly witnessed reusable cups being filled with single-use bottles. 

“Moreover, Coca-Cola has explained that it did not equip the Stade de France for logistical reasons, whereas it would appear that it was more a question of profitability, as the site supposedly does not host enough events throughout the year,” notes Kjaer Kahlat.

According to the French newspaper Le Monde, 13 million reusable cups were produced for the games. 

“But if these eco-cups don’t replace single-use plastic bottles, they lose their purpose while increasing the plastic footprint,” says Kjaer Kahlat.

Coca-Cola has responded to these allegations, saying that where feasible, the beverage giant leverages beverage fountains and returnable glass bottles, serving its drinks into reusable and returnable cups provided and managed by the Paris 2024 Organising Committee.

“In venues where we can't have drink fountains, we serve beverages from recycled plastic bottles (made from recycled materials, excluding the label and cap) or returnable glass bottles into reusable and returnable cups so we can collect and recycle our bottles at the source. The scale and complexity of the Olympic and Paralympic Games provide a unique opportunity to test and learn about packaging distribution, and we look forward to collecting learnings from Paris 2024,” a Coca-Cola spokesperson tells Packaging Insights.

Kjaer Kahlat adds that prior to the games, Zero Waste France warned about an additional obstacle: the branding of the returnable eco-cups would not encourage consumers to return them, but rather to keep them as souvenirs. “Again, as expected, this is exactly what happened. In addition, it would appear that visitors were discouraged from returning their cups due to long queues on Olympic sites,” she adds.

It was also noted that while glass bottles were available in VIP lounges, these could be accompanied by single-use cardboard cups. In addition to generating waste, cardboard cups contain a layer of plastic to be waterproof.

Meanwhile, for the Paris Olympics, Sansu, a partner of TotalEnergies Corbion, transformed Luminy PLA into products like cups and bottles. Its affiliate, WeCycle, collaborated with Cass, a beer brand and official partner of the Paris Olympics Korean House, to collect used PLA cups. Located at the Korean House in Paris, Cass Pocha, a Korean outdoor food and drink stall, used PLA cups collected on-site (Image credit: TotalEnergies Corbion).

These cups, made from 100% bio-based PLA and sourced from sugarcane, were used at the Cass Pocha — an outdoor food and drink stall located near the Eiffel Tower.

Not all hope is lost 

The widespread use of single-use plastics is relatively recent. More than half of all plastic produced since the 1950s has reportedly been consumed in the last twenty years. 

“Getting rid of disposable products seems a small price to pay compared to the devastating consequences of plastic pollution,” says Kjaer Kahlat.

France has committed to ending single-use plastic packaging by 2040, starting with a 50% reduction of plastic bottles by 2030 (as compared to 2018 levels). 

But Kjaer Kahlat says these commitments are “meaningless” if environmental obligations are “sidelined at the slightest opportunity,” such as at the organization of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“If we don’t have the will to make a change in the face of a problem of which alternatives are known and easily deployable, how can people expect that a real ecological transition is ever going to get off the ground? We certainly won’t change the status quo by continuing to associate big corporations such as Coca-Cola with these events.”

“Paris wasn’t able to host ‘plastic-free’ Games in spite of the relatively strict legislation on single-use plastics. We can only hope for an ambitious Plastic Treaty by the time of the Los Angeles Games — California is a fairly active state and precursor when it comes to environmental issues, which gives some hope,” says Kjaer Kahlat.

By Natalie Schwertheim