Washington, DC – Coca-Cola and The Ocean Cleanup announced today that they will partner on The Ocean Cleanup’s river plastic interception project for 15 rivers globally. The goal of the partnership is to prevent the plastic from entering the world’s oceans.
In response to today’s news, Greenpeace USA Oceans Campaign Director John Hocevar said:
“It is not surprising that the world’s worst plastic polluter is pouring money into yet another cleanup effort so it can continue using single-use plastic. Coca-Cola continues to talk about a world without waste while producing 120 billion bottles a year. The company is fully aware that most of its bottles will not be recycled. Hundreds of millions of plastic Coke bottles will again be dumped or burned this year, and unfortunately this partnership will not prevent that from happening.
“The world has been asking Coca-Cola to get serious about plastic pollution for a long time. We will know they are serious about keeping bottles out of our environment when they start supporting bottle deposit programs. We will know they are serious about preventing all forms of plastic pollution when they stop producing endless piles of throwaway plastic bottles and start prioritizing refill and reuse. Until then, it is just more of the same greenwashing from a big corporate polluter.”
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Contact: Perry Wheeler, Greenpeace USA Senior Communications Specialist, P: 301-675-8766
