Description
Who is responsible for the Coca-Cola plastic bottle you see lying on the side of the road or floating in the ocean?
The soft-drinks industry produces 470 billion plastic bottles every year, designed to be used just once and then thrown away. In 2018, Coca-Cola, the world’s largest soft drinks producer, set ambitious targets to prevent its plastic bottles polluting the environment. But the company has a long track record of failing to meet its own targets to reduce plastic waste. So will it be different this time? This film puts Coca-Cola's ""World Without Waste"" strategy under the spotlight. In the 1950s, Coke was sold in glass bottles that the company collected, washed and refilled. But Coke began phasing out refillable bottles in favor of throwaway plastic, a trend that continues to this day. Coke says it will clear up its plastic waste, its promised to make its packaging 100% recyclable, collect one bottle or can for everyone it sells by 2030, and make its bottles from 50% recycled plastic. But critics argue that a plan based solely on recycling won’t solve the problem. One in four people globally do not have access to regular bin collections. In Uganda we reveal that plastic is frequently burned on open dumps, with serious consequences for people's health and the climate. Experts argue that reusable, refillable bottles are the best solution because they reduce the amount of plastic being generated, easing the burden on the world's waste systems. Coke recently launched refillable plastic bottles in Latin America, yet a big expansion of these is not part of its strategy. Coke told us that they want to change the mindset from being the face of the problem, to being the leader in finding solutions. With urgent action now needed to tackle the problem, can the world’s biggest soft drinks producer really turn the tide on plastic waste?
Director: Laura Mulholland
Released: 2021
This film is part of the WHY PLASTIC? Series. To find out more about the other films in our series head to thewhy.dk/whyplastic
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