Big plastic polluters and their never-ending greenwashing agenda

greenwashing - climateaction

Big plastic polluters and their never-ending greenwashing agenda

Most businesses with plastics at the core of their production are trying to be greener. However, a good number of these big plastic polluters have been on a greenwashing spree to gain public validation and pass off as playing their part to save the environment but not all of them are as environmentally friendly as they claim.

 

The thing is, greenwashing — branding something as eco-friendly, green, or sustainable when this is not the case — misleads consumers into thinking they are helping the planet by choosing those products. This makes a joke of all the effort being put in by genuine eco-friendly brands and takes the fight against pollution several steps back.

 

But how can you check that firms really are as green as they make out?

 

Well, one good thing is that, for some companies, you can smell the greenwashing from miles away. They invest so much in “clean-ups” instead of addressing the problem from production — literally majoring in the minor.

 

Take for example a company like Coca-Cola that owns hundreds of brands like Fanta, Sprite, Schweppes, and 55 brands of bottled water that are sold on almost every continent. The company produces about three tonnes of plastic every year which equates to 200,000 bottles a minute, and sells 112 billion plastic beverage bottles worldwide every year for a total of roughly 3 million metric tons of plastic packaging.

 

Now, here’s the shocker — many of Coca-Cola’s plastic bottles end up as litter and enter the world’s rivers and oceans (meaning the majority of plastic bottles are not even recycled). In addition, only about 11.5% of the bottles are made from recycled material.

 

From the above, there’s no doubt that Coca-Cola is one of the top plastic polluters. Unfortunately, the company carries on like its “toxic waste” dump hasn’t reached its peak.

 

It has done nothing to reduce its plastic output and vehemently fights Deposit Return Systems (DRS). Instead, it launches greenwashing campaigns as a front that it is doing its part for plastic pollution.

 

Coca-Cola launched a professional campaign on LinkedIn some months ago where it declared its “Net Carbon Zero Goals”. However, the thousands of comments on the post from professionals across the globe tell you everything you need to know — that it’s all just greenwashing.

 

Spotting greenwashing

 

Tired of the greenwashing agenda as a consumer and want to know if that product you have in your hand is playing to the gallery? Here are 7 things to watch out for:

 

  • False claims or vague language
  • Green images or buzzwords
  • Information shrouded in mystery
  • Look out for carbon offsetting
  • Check company ownership
  • Eco-friendly products in a wider range
  • Is the product and its packaging recyclable?

 

Bottom line

 

Plastic polluters need to start accounting for their role in the mess that they’re leaving behind instead of pushing it onward for others to carry. They can’t keep planning campaigns for people to start recycling their packaging waste when they themselves won’t stop producing the pollutants.

 

Plastic reduction, not weak, voluntary recycling commitments by the world’s top plastic polluters, is the only effective long-term solution to our plastic pollution problem.

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