Marine conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) published its annual brand audit yesterday (11 June), which also showed 65% of branded packaging pollution could be traced back to just 12 companies.
These are Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Anheuser-Bush InBev, McDonalds, Mondelez International, Heineken, Tesco, Carlsberg Group, Suntory, Haribo, Mars and Aldi. Branded Coca-Cola products represented 16% of the pollution.
Hugo Tagholm, SAS’s chief executive, said: “Serial offenders including Coca-Cola, which tops the leader board year-on-year as the worst offender, are still not taking responsibility.
“Legislation such as an all-in deposit scheme needs to be introduced urgently and governments need to hold these companies to account and turn off the tap of plastic and packaging pollution flooding the ocean.”
SAS also called on companies to reduce their packaging and switch to refill models.
DRS
Earlier this year, the UK’s plans to introduce a DRS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were delayed to 2024, with the government blaming the Covid-19 pandemic (see letsrecycle.com story).
In Scotland, a review into the current 2022 ‘go live’ date of its DRS is underway (see letsrecycle.com story). Initially planned for this summer, Scotland announced last year that the introduction of its DRS was to be delayed to July 2022 to allow businesses more time to prepare in light of the pandemic.
There remains scepticism among some in the sector about whether a DRS is necessary, with the government to introduce other legislation targeting waste and plastic pollution, such as extended producer responsibility for packaging (see letsrecycle.com story).
SAS wants the government to introduce an all-in DRS, rather than a model that would target only those small containers classified as ‘on-the-go’. An all-in DRS would target most drinks containers placed on the market, irrespective of size.
SAS estimates 29% of the items found during its brand audit would be captured by an all-in DRS. The charity suggests 52% of the branded packaging attributed to the 12 most prevalent companies would be captured, including more than 80% of Coca-Cola’s packaging.
Pollution
Between 11 and 23 May, 3,913 volunteers took part in SAS’s annual brand audit, covering 11,139 miles of beaches and other public recreational spaces across the UK.
They collected 26,983 littered items, branded and unbranded, in total. Of these items, 9,998 were identified as branded and linked to 327 brands. Nearly two-thirds of the branded items were linked to just 12 companies.
Sixty-three per cent of the items were unbranded. Cigarette butts were the greatest contributor, representing 25% of the unbranded items, while personal protective equipment (PPE) only accounted for 2.5%.
There was little variation in SAS’s results between 2019 and 2021. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo items remain the first and second most likely to be littered on beaches. Brewing company Anheauser-Bush InBev moved from eighth to third in the rankings, which SAS attributes to “the closure of pubs, bars and restaurants increasing personal alcohol consumption in public recreational settings during lockdowns”.
‘Disappointing’
In response to the brand audit, a spokesperson for Coca-Cola told letsrecycle.com: “Like everyone, we care about reducing packaging waste and we don’t want to see any of our packaging end up where it shouldn’t. All our packaging is 100% recyclable, and our aim is to get more of it back so that it can be recycled and turned into new packaging again.
“It’s disappointing to see any packaging being littered and that’s why we support the introduction of a well-designed deposit return scheme which would encourage people to recycle rather than litter or throw away.”
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