About Coca Cola Company
Coca Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a comprehensive beverage company with products sold in over 200 countries and regions. Our company’s mission is to rejuvenate the world and make a difference. We sell multiple brands worth billions of dollars worldwide, covering multiple beverage categories.
The world’s largest plastic polluting companies in 2023 are Coca Cola, Nestle, Unilever, PepsiCo, Mondelez International, Mars, Procter&Gamble, Danone, Altria, and British American Tobacco. According to brand audit data, the “world’s largest plastic polluting enterprise” is defined as the parent company whose brand has been found to pollute the most countries and generate the most plastic waste.
Coca Cola has remained the top polluting company for six consecutive years, with its total plastic waste reaching a new high of 33820 pieces, the highest record for the company since the launch of the project.
For the first time, the amount of plastic waste generated by the Pepsi brand has exceeded that of Coca Cola Company. According to the calculation method considering the number of countries with brand distribution, Pepsi Cola did not become the most polluting company because their waste is distributed in 30 countries, while Coca Cola’s waste is distributed in 40 countries.
Coca Cola: ‘Global Plastic Harm’
The iconic red bottle of Coca Cola is increasingly becoming a representative of environmental pollution. This polluting enterprise sells over 100 billion disposable plastic bottles annually, many of which end up in landfills and oceans.
Coca Cola Company sets voluntary environmental goals
December 2, 2024.—–The Coca Cola Company announced updated voluntary environmental goals today, aimed at achieving the company’s mission of “keeping the world fresh and making a difference”.
This evolution is based on the experience accumulated over decades of working in the field of sustainable development, regularly evaluating progress, and identifying challenges. To achieve these goals, it is necessary to continue investing in innovative and infrastructure solutions, developing favorable legislation, and further collaborating with bottling partners, industry peers, local governments, and civil society.
The company is prioritizing goals and actions to improve water safety in high-risk areas, reduce packaging waste, and decrease emissions, and extending the timeline to 2035.
Bea Perez, Executive Vice President and Global Chief Communications, Sustainability, and Strategic Partnership Officer at Coca Cola, stated, “We are committed to building long-term business resilience and gaining social recognition through evolving voluntary environmental goals. These challenges are complex and require us to drive more effective and efficient resource allocation, and collaborate with partners to create lasting positive impacts.
Coca Cola significantly reduces its packaging sustainability goals
The company accounts for approximately 11% of global brand plastic pollution. The company stated that by 2035, it will use 35% to 40% recycled materials in its packaging. Previously, the company planned to reach 50% by 2030.
In addition, the company has also reduced its commitment made in 2018 to recycle the plastic equivalent of each bottle it produces by 2030. Now, the company plans to ‘ensure the collection’ of 70% to 75% of the bottles and cans entering the market.
According to The Washington Post, Coca Cola has yet to achieve two other goals: a cumulative reduction of 3 million metric tons of virgin plastic usage between 2020 and 2025, and a quarter of beverage sales using refillable or recyclable packaging by 2030. Coca Cola did not reduce its use of virgin plastics between 2020 and 2023, with only 14% of its products using reusable packaging last year.
-The goal is to use 35% to 40% recycled materials in primary packaging (plastic, glass, and aluminum), including increasing the global use of recycled plastics to 30% to 35%.
-Help ensure the collection of 70% to 75% of the same number of bottles and cans that enter the market each year.
