If you were wondering which companies dump the most plastic on Earth, damaging the environment on a magnitude that is beyond comprehension, you should look no further than the usual suspects, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé. The reason why we characterize the trio like that is because that’s exactly the same that topped the relevant list last year, and also the year before.
The three giants may claim that they only pollute more than anyone else because they sell so much stuff around the globe, but the truth is that they had three years to make some progress on that part and all three of them did next to nothing.
They all announced intention to do something on that part, presenting proposals for recyclable or biodegradable materials, but so far, absolutely no practical steps have been taken.
Coca-Cola’s plastic waste accounts for more than the other two combined. About 63% of all plastic that is gathered by volunteering cleaners around the world belongs to the American soft drink manufacturer.
That is according to a report by “Break Free From Plastic”, who gathered data from the collection of 346,494 pieces of plastic waste gathered by 15,000 people in 55 nations.
It is clear that the cost of shifting from single-use plastic containers to something more environmentally-friendly would be easy from an economical perspective for these corporate giants, but the profit margin would be reduced. For Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé, maintaining maximum profit is far more important than doing something about the humongous plastic waste problem virtually all ecosystems in the planet are facing.
And if they don’t want to do anything about it, the burden is on the governments who demand action in a theatrical manner and fail spectacularly in the enforcement part.
Right now, it is estimated that each year, just shy of 9 million tonnes of plastic find their way into the ocean, and by 2050, there will be more plastic (by weight) than fish in them.
We should already be acting as if we are in a state of emergency, and yet the world’s biggest polluters are setting out plans with goals stretching to many decades in the future.
