Coca-Cola is reducing its plastic recycling targets from previous commitments, which advocacy groups say is an abandonment of its reuse goals. The beverage giant’s announcement comes just as talks for a global plastic treaty stalled this month. In a statement published Dec. 2 on its website, Coca-Cola said it has updated its voluntary environment goals and is now aiming for 35-40% recycled material in primary packaging by 2035. In a 2022 pledge, the company had said it would aim to use 50% recycled material in its packaging by 2030. The company also says it now aims to collect 70-75% of the “equivalent number of bottles and cans introduced into the market annually.” Previously, it said it would collect and recycle a bottle or can “for every one we sell by 2030.” “Coke’s latest move is a masterclass in greenwashing, ditching previously announced reuse targets, and choosing to flood the planet with more plastic they can’t even collect and recycle effectively,” Von Hernandez, global coordinator of advocacy group Break Free From Plastic (BFFP), said in a statement. “This only reinforces the company’s reputation as the World’s Top Plastic polluter.” BFFP, which tagged Coca-Cola as a top plastics polluter in its 2023 brand audit report, noted that Coca-Cola removed the 2022 pledge from its website just before the start of the plastics treaty negotiation. “The company’s new announcement includes no mention of its reusable commitment as if it never existed,” BFFP said. Coca-Cola also makes no mention of its prior goal of…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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