Exclusive: Campaigners say company’s apparent abandoning of 2030 pledge is a ‘masterclass in greenwashing’

Coca-Cola has been accused of quietly abandoning a pledge to achieve a 25% reusable packaging target by 2030 in what campaigners call a “masterclass in greenwashing”.

The company has been previously found by researchers to be among the world’s most polluting brands when it comes to plastic waste.

In 2022, the company made a promise to have 25% of its drinks sold in refillable or returnable glass or plastic bottles, or in refillable containers that could be filled up at fountains or “Coca-Cola freestyle dispensers”.

But shortly before this year’s global plastics summit, the company deleted the page on its website outlining this promise, and it no longer has a target for reusable packaging.

    • thatKamGuyEnglish
      3·
      15 hours ago

      The issue is more the blatant profiteering off people looking to do the right thing.

      There is absolutely no reason for a small bottle of syrup to cost more per serve than buying multiple giant plastic bottles made up of 95% carbonated water.

      Matter of fact, it’s counter-intuitive as you usually are charged more for a convenience (ie. a ready to go beverage), versus buying the ingredients separately.

    • JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      31·
      21 hours ago

      True. But it shouldn’t be. At all.

      Bottling, shipping and stocking hundreds and hundreds of bottles of soft drinks that are 98% just water on the store shelf costs a hell of a lot more than putting a hundredth of the amount of syrup in a small bag and selling that. A sachet of sugar-free cola syrup would be smaller than a McDonald’s ketchup pouch, and cost a few cents.