Coca-Cola has been accused of quietly abandoning a pledge to achieve a 25% reusable packaging target by 2030 in what campaigners call a “masterclass in greenwashing”.

The company has been previously found by researchers to be among the world’s most polluting brands when it comes to plastic waste.

In 2022, the company made a promise to have 25% of its drinks sold in refillable or returnable glass or plastic bottles, or in refillable containers that could be filled up at fountains or “Coca-Cola freestyle dispensers”.

But shortly before this year’s global plastics summit, the company deleted the page on its website outlining this promise, and it no longer has a target for reusable packaging.

  • myplacedk@lemmy.world
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    13 hours ago

    Here is in Denmark they are at 100%, because that’s our law. As far as I know (as a consumer), it works just fine.

    All soda bottles and cans can be returned in (almost?) any store that sells them. When we buy, a small deposit is added. When we return the container, we get the deposit back.

    The deposit is adjusted every now and then to keep it small enough to not significantly affect customers buying power, but big enough that most people want the money back.

    • ms.lane@lemmy.world
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      13 hours ago

      Where aren’t they close to that?

      In Australia they were at 70:30 Recycled:Virgin PET, 30 years ago when I toured the plant, all of their water products are 100% now (but they’re pretty flimsy, not sure the mount franklin bottles would hold up under ‘shaken up coca coca’ pressures)

  • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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    14 hours ago

    Manufacturers should have been made responsible for ensuring that there was a system in place for their packaging, decades ago. This isn’t a “vote with your dollars” thing - plastic is cheap and has no downsides to the megacorps, only to us and the environment.

    The plastic industry has been gaslighting us for decades, in a way that the cigarette industry must be kicking itself watching.

  • paysrenttobirds@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    I’m just going to be unpopular for a minute here and say if you find yourself drinking out of single use disposable containers everyday, take some time to see if you can change that, even a little bit.

    The future “goals” listed here are so lame I don’t think you can pretend there’s a sustainable way for billions of people to have that habit.

    • Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Yeah, the people are to blame. Why won’t anyone ever think of the poor corporations trying their best?

      • HellsBelle@sh.itjust.worksOP
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        1 day ago

        Dunno why you’re getting downvoted, 'cause you’re right.

        Corporations sell products THEY’VE created in containers THEY’VE chosen using media THEY’VE hired to create profit for THEMSELVES.

        How in the fuck are regular people at fault here in any way, shape or form?

        • slaacaa@lemmy.world
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          22 hours ago

          Exactly. If they weren’t manufacturing and selling plastic trash, people wouldn’t buy it. I try to limit my plastic use, and recycle what I use, but that is not enough.

          Single use plastics should be banned fully, coke and other companies could sell their stuff in glass or harder, reusable plastic.

        • SlopppyEngineer@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          It would help if they’d stop blasting people with ads and marketing, the stuff designed to override people’s choices.

        • Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world
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          14 hours ago

          Me personally? Damn, I didn’t realize I was the one keeping them in business, despite not purchasing their products.

          Corporations and the upper class want infighting. They want us to fight each other and blame each other for their evil tactics. Stop playing into their hands. Blame them, not the average consumer.

    • Noodle07@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      I’d buy a soda stream syrup instead of buying coca cola bottles but last time I checked it was slightly more expensive to do so

      • HellsBelle@sh.itjust.worksOP
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        23 hours ago

        As I have diabetes I make my own soda. Just buy some good quality flavorings from a reputable shop and add them to club soda … or, if you like 7-up, just add a few drops of lemon and lime juice to club soda.

        For a sweetener I use stevia, but if you want sugar for your drink, boil some water and add a few tablespoons of sugar. Add some of that mix to the club soda mixture, to taste.

      • Zerlyna@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        I have one but it’s just not the same to me. And yes I needed to use so much syrup it’s not cost effective for me either.

    • Oijkuij@lemmy.world
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      16 hours ago

      Not that this makes it “wrong” but aluminum cans are also plastic cans, they have a liner on the inside of the metal layer that prevents the acidic soda from corroding things and affecting the flavor. Here’s a quick demo of it. While it doesn’t prevent the Al from being recycled it is single-use plastic, the liner burns off when the can is melted down. Glass has no such need for the liner.

      • thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works
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        15 hours ago

        Glass is still the best medium, but it is relatively heavy and fragile - making per-unit costs significantly higher once all factors are accounted for (loss, logistics etc).

        While it’s true that a few milligrams of plastic are burned off when cans are recycled - it is still infinitely better for the environment overall than single-use bottles.

        • ms.lane@lemmy.world
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          13 hours ago

          Logistics is huge, Coopers Brewery are finally moving away from Glass for Al Cans after many years of being only available in glass, since it reduces their carbon footprint by an exceptional margin.