Washed up: 25 percent of plastic waste on UK beaches comes from Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, says conservation charity

15 May 2019 --- More than half of the discarded packaging littering UK beaches comes from just a handful of global brands – with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo leading the pack. This is according to findings from conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), who logged all the packaging they found during the UK’s “largest ever” survey of packaging found on beaches and rivers. The figures have been submitted to the government as evidence in the consultation underway on plastic packaging and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The findings also highlight the changes that some companies are making to reduce their litter impact, such as redesigning for greater recyclability.

Levels of plastic in the environment have sparked widespread societal concern, which has dramatically intensified in the last year. In 1950, the world’s population of 2.5 billion produced 1.5 million tons of plastic; in 2016, a global population of more than 7 billion people produced over 320 million tons of plastic. This is set to double by 2034, according to SAS estimates.

Coca-Cola alone produces three million tons of plastic packaging a year – based on 2017 numbers – which translates to 200,000 bottles a minute. The beverage giant was also “named and shamed” in an October 2018 Greenpeace survey which revealed that Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé were the companies most frequently identified in 239 clean-ups and brand audits spanning 42 countries and six continents.

Credit: SAS.During the 229 SAS cleans in April, 49,413 pieces of pollution were picked up, 20,045 of which were branded, with Coca-Cola producing the largest proportion of branded items (15.5 percent), PepsiCo, which owns Walkers, accounted for 10.3 percent, followed by Mondelez International, which owns Cadbury, at 6.8 percent and Nestlé at 5.5 percent.

In light of the findings, Hugo Tagholm, Chief Executive of Surfers Against Sewage, says: “Just ten companies were responsible for over half of the packaging pollution recorded. Unsurprisingly, the high street brands had headline appearances with Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestle and McDonald’s all gracing the top ten.”

“These companies must invest more in the redesign of packaging, alternative ways of product delivery and ramping up packaging re-use to truly turn the tide on the plastic pollution that is sweeping our world,” he adds.

Calls for EPR intensify
Under the UK’s present EPR guidelines, producers “that handle over 50 tons of packaging annually and have an annual turnover over £2 million (US$2.6 million)” should be made accountable for the cost and system for dealing with the packaging they create and sell.

But, currently, most parent companies do not share information on the packaging they produce, hiding the scale of their potential impact on the environment – and paying less than 10 percent of the costs of dealing with it, notes the charity. The result is that local councils and taxpayers must deal with the cost resulting from this waste. Credit: SAS.

Each company in the top 50 polluters list drawn up from the findings of the study – responsible for 91.6 percent of the branded items – has an annual turnover far greater than the £2 million (US$2.6 million) threshold.

Now, SAS is urging the government to put in place stricter rulings, saying it is critical that new EPR regulations ensure transparency in the amount packaging companies produce. This way they can hold them fully accountable for the pollution they create. If instated, an EPR would force producers (parent companies) to take more responsibility for the costs of dealing with their packaging once it has been discarded.

“This is not a littering issue – business needs to provide radical and responsible new systems that drastically reduce their impact on our oceans, forests and nature at large,” says Tagholm.

The consultations also propose a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for cans and bottles and a tax on plastic packaging that contains less than 30 percent recycled content. The government elicited industry opinions on its plans until May 13.

It wasn't just packaging that they found. Credit: SAS.Coca-Cola responds
In response to the findings, a Coca-Cola spokesperson tells PackagingInsights that the beverage giant is one of the few companies to publish the amount of packaging it uses – globally and locally. Additionally, it is supportive of EPR reform, as well as the introduction of a DRS.

“In Britain, all our bottles and cans are already 100 percent recyclable. Also, last year, we promised to increase the amount of recycled plastic in all our bottles, across all our brands, from 25 percent to 50 percent by 2020,” the spokesperson says.  

The beverage company highlights that, when disposed of properly, its bottles can be recycled into new bottles over and over again. “The current consultations on packaging and recycling represent an opportunity to reform the system to ensure more packaging is recovered and recycled and we welcome these.”

However, aside from Coca-Cola’s plastic waste – largely cans and bottles which could, in essence, enter the racing stream – sweet wrappers and crisp packets were also found in high levels. Such packaging cannot be so readily recycled and SAS is also calling for the redesign of products from suppliers to make them more sustainable.

By Laxmi Haigh