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

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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