{"id":63442,"date":"2024-04-26T14:29:43","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T02:29:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/?p=63442"},"modified":"2024-07-12T09:11:32","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T21:11:32","slug":"just-56-multinationals-are-responsible-for-more-than-half-of-the-worlds-plastic-pollution-coca-cola-is-the-worst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/story\/just-56-multinationals-are-responsible-for-more-than-half-of-the-worlds-plastic-pollution-coca-cola-is-the-worst\/","title":{"rendered":"Just 56 multinationals are responsible for more than half of the world\u2019s plastic pollution – Coca-Cola is the worst"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new study<\/a> has shown that just 56 big multinationals are responsible for more than half of the world\u2019s plastic pollution, with just six of them responsible for a quarter of that.<\/p>\n\n

And guess who was at the top of the list? Who is the worst of the worst. Yep, you got it, our old nemesis Coca-Cola<\/a> thanks to the vast number of single-use plastic bottles it produces. <\/p>\n\n

\"Coca-cola\u2019s<\/figure>\n\n

Here in Aotearoa, drinks companies like Coca-Cola sell 1 billion plastic bottles every year. Every year!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Recycling is not the answer<\/h2>\n\n

Companies like Coca-Cola like to push recycling as the solution because it puts the responsibility on people who buy their drinks, but we know recycling doesn’t work – and worse than that, we know they always knew it didn’t work too<\/a>. It was always a distraction ploy to allow them to continue producing their rubbish for profit. <\/p>\n\n

Plastic pollution is now so pervasive that it’s in the air that we breathe, the food that we eat, the water we drink, and it’s even been found in our blood and placenta. The health impacts of that are only just starting to be understood but there’s already evidence that microplastics are linked to cancer<\/a> and other health issues such as reduced fertility, cardiovascular disease, lung health, and birth defects.<\/p>\n\n

We have to stop plastic production.<\/p>\n\n

As the researchers in this latest study conclude – for every percentage increase in plastic produced, there is an equivalent increase in plastic pollution in the environment.<\/p>\n\n

We cannot recycle our way out of the plastic pollution crisis.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cProduction really is pollution,\u201d says one of the study\u2019s authors, Lisa Erdle<\/a>, director of science at the non-profit The 5 Gyres Institute.<\/p>\n\n

That’s why the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations<\/a> underway right now are so important. A strong treaty can force companies like Coca-cola to move away from single-use plastics to better, more circular systems of refill and reuse. <\/p>\n\n

\"A
A giant toroa \/ albatross with a 10-metre wing-span is installed by Greenpeace Aotearoa volunteers on the iconic Mission Bay beach in Auckland New Zealand to call on the New Zealand government to take action on plastic pollution and commit to support a stronger Global Plastics Treaty of 75% plastic reduction by 2040 ahead of the 3rd Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC3) in Nairobi, Kenya on November 13th.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

The industry knows it, and they’re trying hard to undermine progress.<\/p>\n\n

The number of fossil fuel and petrochemical industry lobbyists has increased<\/a> by more than a third at UN talks to agree the first global treaty to cut plastic pollution, analysis shows.<\/p>\n\n

After all, the oil industry spawned the plastic industry, and as the world moves away from burning fossil fuels, big sees big plastic as a lifeline.<\/p>\n\n

The 196 lobbyists registered for the talks now underway in Ottawa is a 37% increase from the 143 registered at the last talks in Nairobi. And that was a 36% increase on the previous year\u2019s number. <\/p>\n\n

Increased plastic production is a big part of the fossil fuel industry\u2019s business plan for the future, and any of our attempts to stop plastic production, such as those being discussed at the UN talks, are a serious threat to their profits.<\/p>\n\n

Ban the bottle<\/h2>\n\n

We must push our Governments to fight for a strong plastics treaty and take action to curtail plastic production, such as measures to stop the sale of single-use plastic products. We’ve made some progress there\u2014with the ban on single-use plastic shopping bags and in pushing for more regulation to phase out some other plastic products, like plastic stirrers and some wrapping. But so far, drinks companies like Coca-Cola have avoided any significant regulation.<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace is calling on the New Zealand government to ‘ban the bottle’, and well over 100,000 people have signed our petition. <\/p>\n\n

You can add your name here and now:<\/p>\n