Research finds 56 companies account for more than half of the world’s plastic waste

29 Apr 2024 --- A study published in Science Advances finds 56 global companies are responsible for more than half of all branded plastic pollution. Scientists from universities in the US, Australia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Estonia, Chile, Sweden, Canada and the UK used a five-year (2018–2022) analysis based on Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) brand audit data from 1,576 audit events across 84 countries.

“We found that 50% of items were unbranded, calling for mandated producer reporting,” share the authors.

The top five brands globally, including The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Danone and Altria, collectively accounted for 24% of the total branded count. These companies and 51 others are responsible for more than 50% of the world’s branded plastic pollution. 

“There was a clear and strong log-log linear relationship between companies’ annual production of plastic and their branded plastic pollution, with F&B companies being disproportionately large polluters. Phasing out single-use and short-lived plastic products by the largest polluters would greatly reduce global plastic pollution,” detail the researchers.

The researchers find that every 1% increase in consumer goods companies’ plastic production is associated with a 1% increase in plastic pollution in the environment.

“The research identifies the top 56 multinational companies contributing to global branded plastic litter. Past studies have ranked countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nigeria, etc., among the top sources of plastic waste into the ocean,” comments Dr. Jorge Emmanuel, adjunct professor and research faculty fellow at the Institute of Environmental & Marine Sciences, and College of Engineering & Design, Silliman University, the Philippines.

“This has led to a narrative in social media that blames poor countries for global plastic pollution, ignoring the fact that around the 1960s, global companies flooded developing countries with cheap, single-use plastics, displacing traditional biodegradable materials and sustainable reuse-refill systems which, in the case of the Philippines, dated back to the 16th century. The current study focuses instead on the role of corporations and global plastic production.” 

Phasing out single-use and short-lived plastic products by the largest polluters would reduce global plastic pollution, find the researchers.Production responsible for pollution?
The researchers assessed the 1,576 audit events, which BFFP describes as citizen science initiatives, in which volunteers conduct waste clean-ups and document the brands found on the pollution collected. 

“This research provides the first quantification of global producer contribution to branded plastic pollution. The findings suggest that single-use packaging significantly contributes to branded plastic pollution. This data can help inform ways to address plastic production and reduce plastic waste ending up in the environment,” shares Dr. Kathy Willis, a postdoctoral fellow from The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency.

The countries used in the analysis represented a combined population of 6.5 billion people or about 81% of the global population, based on July 2022 population estimates.

“Thirteen companies have an individual contribution of 1% or more of the total branded plastic observed in the audit events. All 13 companies produce food, beverage or tobacco products,” write the researchers.

“It is important to note that the contributions of the top companies may be an underestimation because there were brands that were not attributed to a company, and there were many unbranded objects,” the authors clarify.

According to the study, the relationship between production and pollution suggests that plastic production is a very strong lever on pollution.

“This scientific study affirms what activists and communities impacted by plastic pollution have been saying for years: the more plastic is produced, the more plastic is found in the environment. It’s that simple,” says Sybil Bullock, associate campaign manager at Break Free From Plastic.

“Yet again, plastic polluters like The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo and Nestlé continue to fail in their voluntary commitment to reduce their plastic footprint. We need a legally binding Global Plastics Treaty that mandates significant cuts in plastic production and stops corporations from flooding the planet with single-use plastic.” 

Edited by Radhika Sikaria