Eunomia Report - The Impact of Beverage Brand Commitments for Recycled Content on the Flow of Plastic Bottles into Aquatic Environments | Oceana

Report | May, 2022

Eunomia Report – The Impact of Beverage Brand Commitments for Recycled Content on the Flow of Plastic Bottles into Aquatic Environments

 

Report summary:

The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Danone, and Keurig Dr Pepper have pledged to increase post-consumer recycled content in their polyethylene terephthalate plastic (PET) bottles by targets ranging mostly from 25 to 50% by 2025. A new study commissioned by Oceana has exposed the weakness of these plastic recycled content pledges. The analysis, conducted by Eunomia Research & Consulting, found that if the top five beverage companies meet their pledges – and it’s far from certain that they will – these pledges would only reduce aquatic pollution from single-use plastic bottles by 7%. In response, Oceana is calling on major beverage companies to adopt or expand strategies that prioritize refillable bottles.

Key Findings:

  • Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Danone, and Keurig Dr Pepper have all pledged to increase the recycled content in their single-use polyethylene terephthalate plastic (PET) bottles to targets ranging mostly from 25 to 50% by 2025.
  • If the five brands meet their recycled content targets, Eunomia predicted there will only be a 7% reduction of PET bottle pollution to aquatic systems. An estimated 33.4 billion PET bottles will still enter rivers, lakes, and oceans.
  • To meet the increased demand for recycled plastic created by the pledges, a colossal 2.57 million metric tons of additional PET bottles need to be collected each year, globally.
  • To successfully collect these extra bottles, the current global bottle collection rate must increase by 43% — equating to the collection of thousands more bottles each second.
  • Unless highly improbable swift and significant improvements in bottle collection systems are made globally, the five beverage brands will not be able to meet their recycled content targets by 2025.
  • Additional resources:

  • Press Release
  • Fact Sheet
  • Report Video
  • Refill-Again.com
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