UK Guardian quotes non-profit organization report
Survey of 1.87 million pieces of trash in 84 countries over 5 years
Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle, Danone, Philip Morris
Five multinational companies… “Production equals pollution”
It was found that 25% of the world’s plastic waste is produced by five large multinational companies. Additionally, half of the waste is known to be associated with 56 companies.
On the 24th (local time), the British Guardian newspaper cited a report by ‘The 5 Zius Institute’ and revealed that half of the plastic waste collected around the world was produced by 56 multinational companies.
The research team identified producers by individually examining over 1.87 million pieces of various plastic waste collected by over 100,000 volunteers in 84 countries from 2018 to 2022. As a result, of the approximately 910,000 pieces of plastic waste whose producers were identified, about half were products of 56 multinational companies.
In addition, 25% of these were products of five multinational companies, with Coca-Cola products accounting for the most at 11%, followed by Pepsi-Cola at 5%, Nestlé and Danone at 3% each, and Philip Morris International at 2%. “Production equals pollution,” said Lisa Erdl of The 5 Zyres Institute.
Wynn Couger, director of research at the Moore Plastic Pollution Institute, also pointed out that there is no easy solution, saying that solving the plastic pollution problem requires a major change in the way society operates.
Another research participant, Ptricia Villarrubia-Gomez of the Stockholm Resilience Center, said the study demonstrated very well the need for transparency and traceability, and pointed out that it is important to know who produces what so that they can be held accountable.
Markus Eriksen, a plastic pollution expert at ‘The 5 Zyres Institute’, pointed out that companies, not individuals, are responsible for plastic pollution, and that plastic waste is created because companies use disposable plastic containers.
In response, Coca-Cola said it had pledged to achieve 100% packaging recycling by 2025 and 50% recycled packaging by 2030, and that it was doing its best to grow its business in the right way. Nestlé explained that it has reduced its use of virgin plastic, which is produced directly using crude oil or natural gas, by 14.9% over the past five years and is also actively supporting the development of waste collection and recycling plans around the world.
