Major drink companies to use 100% recyclable bottles, but scepticism remains

Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper and PepsiCo have joined together in an attempt to tackle the plastic waste problem with their new campaign ‘Every Bottle Back,’ however, a spokesperson for Greenpeace told Environment Journal that if these companies were serious they would ‘shift to a system of reuse.’ 

The campaign which also involves WWF, The Recycling Partnership and Closed Loop Partners has four components, the first is to reduce the amount of new plastic in the U.S.

The second component is an investment of £77.5m to improve the sorting, processing, and collection of discarded plastic bottles in four key regions across the U.S.

According to Coca-Cola, the campaign is expected to attract an additional £232.5m in matching grants and investments which will then be used to increase the amount of recycled plastic that can be remade into new bottles.

The Every Bottle Back scheme will also launch a public awareness and community outreach campaign to promote the recycling of the bottles.

The three companies will also use their packaging to remind consumers that the bottles are 100% recyclable and can be remade into new bottles.

Jim Dinkins, president of Coca-Cola North America said: ‘We’re proud to come together with our competitors to address the serious issue of plastic waste in our environment.’

Katherine Lugar, president and Ceo of the American Beverage Association (ABA) said: ‘Our industry recognises the serious need to reduce new plastic in our environment, and we want to do our part to lead with innovative solutions.’

‘Our bottles are designed to be remade, and that is why this programme is so important.’

‘Every Bottle Back will ensure that our plastic bottles are recovered after use and remade into new bottles, so we can reduce the amount of new plastic used to bring our beverages to market.’

Graham Forbes, Greenpeace U.S global plastics project leader said: ‘This is just more recycled material from the PR world as these companies flounder to keep their increasing plastic-use alive.’

‘Coca-Cola and PepsioCo were just named two of the top three polluters globally for the second year away.’

‘These companies should be ashamed of themselves for continuing to sell Americans a pipe dream of recyclability rather than just owning up to their role in polluting our oceans, waterways, and communities.’

‘We have news for the American Beverage Association: their Every Bottle Back initiative will get very few bottles back because the all-time recycling rate for throwaway plastic is less than 10%.’

‘If these companies were serious about addressing the plastic pollution crisis, they would stop making so much plastic and shift toward systems of reuse.’

In related news, a recent investigation by Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) revealed that Coca-Cola is the world’s largest plastic polluter, polluting more than the next three global polluters combined.

Photo Credit – Pixabay