| Plastic bottles are a major source of plastic pollution but they don’t need to!
Tell Coca-Cola, PepsiCo & Nestlé: stop blocking container deposits!
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We pulled off something extraordinary last month. Together with our #breakfreefromplastic movement allies, we mobilized 10,000 people to pick up 187,000 pieces of plastic pollution and then record and report the brands that made that trash!
These “brand audit” results revealed something astonishing: the second most commonly found item was plastic bottles, one of the few types of plastic — PET — that actually has value in the recycling market. Indeed, there’s no reason plastic bottles should end up in the environment at all.
But there is a solution — plastic bottles don’t need to become pollution.
Around the world, container deposit systems, or bottle bills, are preventing billions of bottles from turning into pollution by incentivizing their return. In 10 U.S. states and over a dozen countries worldwide, refundable deposits on plastic bottles are proven to boost return and recycling rates. The best systems have virtually eliminated littered bottles; we need them everywhere!
But the beverage industry, including the top three polluters identified by our brand audit — Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé — have funded industry groups lobbying against new container deposit laws.
Friend, tell the beverage industry to stop doubling down on plastic pollution!
Bottle bills are one of the few ready-made solutions in our toolbox to halt the plastics crisis. In Norway, 97% of bottles sold are returned to container deposits. With concern about plastic pollution growing, this ‘no-brainer’ is gaining traction across Europe and Australia.
The beverage industry sells 1 million bottles every minute, and now they’re blocking the best way to stop them from ending up in our environment. The big brands are rolling out greenwashing strategies with their left hand and crushing solutions with their right. Enough’s enough – it’s time to call them out on their double standards.
Speak out now and join our campaign to hold the real litterbugs accountable for plastic pollution.
Sincerely,
Sam Pearse
Campaigns Manager
P.S. Here’s more background on our campaign:
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