The world’s largest beverage company, Coca-Cola, has sparked outrage among environmental campaigners by significantly scaling back its recycling and sustainability commitments. The soft-drink giant announced on Monday it would reduce its recycling and reuse targets for billions of bottles, marking a substantial retreat from its previous environmental promises.
The revised strategy reveals the company now aims to utilise 35 to 40 per cent recycled material in primary packaging by 2035, a notable reduction from its earlier pledge of 50 per cent by 2030. The organisation has also diminished its bottle and can recycling objectives, stating it will now “help ensure the collection” of 70-75 per cent of containers by 2035, replacing its previous commitment to recycle one container for each one sold by 2030.
The scale of Coca-Cola’s environmental impact is substantial, with the company’s network generating 5.97 million tonnes of packaging in 2023, including 137 billion plastic bottles and 74 billion aluminium and steel containers. This revision arrives at a particularly sensitive moment, coinciding with the collapse of UN talks in Busan, South Korea, regarding the world’s first legally binding treaty on plastic pollution.
Environmental organisations have responded with fierce criticism. Kelly McBee from As You Sow described the announcement as “devastating,” while Matt Littlejohn of Oceana labelled the moves as “short-sighted” and “irresponsible.” The decision may also expose the company to increased litigation risks, as evidenced by recent legal action from Los Angeles County against both Coca-Cola and Pepsi regarding their recyclability claims.
The company has also abandoned its commitment to sourcing all priority agricultural ingredients according to its “Principles for Sustainable Agriculture.” Instead, it will merely “support sustainable sourcing.” The climate targets have been similarly adjusted, moving away from specific percentage reductions to a vaguer commitment aligned with a 1.5C trajectory by 2035.
These modifications represent a significant shift in corporate environmental responsibility, potentially setting a concerning precedent for other major consumer goods companies in their approach to sustainability commitments.
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