A study of over 1.8 million plastic waste containers worldwide reveals that Coca-Cola is the brand that creates the most waste

A study conducted by volunteers on six continents found that the top five companies produced 25% of all plastic waste in the world with identifiable brand names. Coca-Cola, the leader, produced 11% of the total, more than double the amount produced by PepsiCo, the second-place company.

Global producer responsibility for plastic pollution | Science Advances
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adj8275

Just Five Companies Produce Nearly 25 Percent of All Plastic Waste Worldwide | Sierra Club
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/just-five-companies-produce-nearly-25-percent-all-plastic-waste-worldwide

Globally, companies produce 450 million metric tons of plastic every year, much of which ends up in landfills, roadsides, waterways and oceans.

Win Cowger of the Moore Institute , which is researching plastic pollution, and his colleagues worked with more than 100,000 volunteers from 84 countries on six continents to investigate the sources of plastic waste from 2018 to 2022.

The survey covered more than 1.8 million pieces of plastic waste, of which more than half had an identifiable source, while the rest had either deteriorated to the point where they could not be identified, or had no information to identify which brand they came from.

The top five identifiable sources of plastic waste were Coca-Cola (11%), PepsiCo (5%), Nestle (3%), Danone (3%), and Altria (Philip Morris: 2%), accounting for nearly 25% of all plastic waste.

When asked for comment on the matter by conservation group Sierra Club, a Coca-Cola spokesperson pointed to sustainability goals from its ' Zero Waste Society ' program, which include making its packaging globally recyclable, using at least 50 percent recycled content in its packaging, and increasing the use of returnable packaging.

Nestle commented that it has recycling initiatives around the world and is addressing plastic pollution by reducing the amount of non-recycled plastic it uses.

Danone similarly explains that it is reducing the amount of plastic it uses and increasing the recyclability of its packaging.

PepsiCo, meanwhile, declined to comment.

Altria also did not agree with the findings. Altria explained that its subsidiary Philip Morris USA owns brands such as Marlboro and Parliament, but operates only in the United States, so it cannot be held responsible for the '2%' that was pointed out. Cowger explained that Philip Morris International, which handles business outside the United States, left the Altria Group in 2008, but was included in the total because it uses the same brands. He also said that just because litter is found in another country does not necessarily mean that the litter came from that country.

Commenting on the survey results, Cowger said: 'Every company is only trying to maintain the status quo, and very few are taking a step forward. To solve the problem of plastic pollution, we need to address the status quo while also changing the way society works.'