This audio was auto-generated. Please let us know if you have any feedback.
Dive Briefing:
- About 14% of Coca-Cola’s total beverage volume in 2023 was served in reusable packaging, unchanged from the previous year, a figure that has been criticized by environmental group Oceana.
- Matt Littlejohn, Oceana's senior vice president, said the company had “not made any progress” and Coca-Cola was “not on a path to meet its reuse goals, which is terrible news for the oceans.”
- The company, a maker of soft drinks, water, tea and sports drinks, announced in 2022 a goal to produce at least 25% of all the beverages it sells in reusable containers by 2030.
Dive Insight:
As consumers become more mindful of the environmental footprint of their favorite brands, many companies, like Coca-Cola, have made pledges for various aspects of their business. Environmental groups like Oceana are watching these pledges closely and aren’t afraid to criticize CPGs that they believe aren’t making enough progress.
Coca-Cola has struggled to make progress on its reusable packaging goals in recent years. Last year, its sustainability report said that about 14% of its total beverage volume in 2022 would be in reusable packaging, down from 16% two years ago.
“In light of this lack of progress and commitment from corporate bottlers, Oceana is calling on Coca-Cola to disclose its plan for how the company will achieve its reuse goals by 2030,” the environmental group said.
Oceana estimates that if Coca-Cola met its commitment to use 25% reusable packaging, it would avoid producing more than 100 billion 500ml single-use plastic bottles and cups.
In response to Oceana’s report, a spokesperson for Atlanta-based Coca-Cola said, “While sales of finished products offered in reusable packaging increased by more than 100 million units (last year) compared to 2022, business growth is outpacing our efforts to increase overall beverage volume (in reusable packaging).”
The spokesperson noted that during the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, the makers of Diet Coke, BodyArmor and Dasani served drinks in reusable and returnable cups whenever possible. In locations where beverage fountains were not available, drinks were served in reusable and returnable cups made from recycled plastic bottles or returnable glass bottles.
“We know we need to do more, and we can’t achieve this on our own,” he said.
Coca-Cola has made a number of packaging changes to make its products more environmentally friendly. Earlier this year, it tested label-less Sprite bottles to eliminate a step in the recycling process. Coca-Cola also announced two years ago that it would change its famous green Sprite bottles in North America to clear PET, increasing the circularity of the bottles from bottle to bottle.
According to data from Grand View Research cited by EarthDay.org, Americans buy about 50 billion water bottles each year, which works out to an average of about 13 bottles per month per American.
According to a 2022 report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the amount of plastic waste produced globally is expected to nearly triple by 2060, with about half of it ending up in landfills and less than 20% being recycled.
Other companies, including Coca-Cola’s biggest rival PepsiCo, have also struggled to meet their plastic sustainability goals. In 2023, the food and beverage company’s ESG report attributed the increased use of virgin plastics from non-renewable sources in part to “limited availability and high cost of recycled content.”
