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BREAKING
UN Security Council member states, excluding the United States, confirm that there is a famine in Gaza.
Syrian media: The Israeli occupation forces launch a series of airstrikes in the western Damascus countryside.
Al Mayadeen correspondent: 51 people martyred in Israeli aggression on Gaza since Wednesday morning.
Saree: Yemen will not abandon its stance in support of Gaza no matter the challenges and repercussions until the blockade imposed on the territory is lifted and the aggression it is facing is halted.
Saree: The entire world admitting to the scale of famine and aggression endured by our brothers in Gaza puts the Islamic and Arab worlds before a religious and historic responsibility.
Saree: The operation was carried out in support of the Palestinian people and their Resistance fighters, as well as in response to the genocide and deliberate starvation being perpetrated by the Israeli enemy in Gaza.
Saree: The operation achieved its goals, causing millions of enraged settlers to flee to shelters and suspending air traffic at the airport.
Yemeni Armed Forces: The operation successfully achieved its objective, sending millions of settlers to shelters and suspending airport activity.
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson Yahya Saree: The Yemeni Missile Force carried out an operation that targeted al-Lydd airport in occupied Yaffa using a Palestine 2 ballistic missile.
Yemeni Armed Forces: The missile force carried out a top-tier military operation targeting al-Lydd Airport in the occupied Yafa area with a Palestine-2 hypersonic ballistic missile.

Coca-Cola 'worst plastic polluter in the world': report

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 15 Nov 2022 16:41
  • 1 Shares
4 Min Read

The brand audits aim at gathering evidence to hold corporations responsible for unrecyclable plastic or recyclable plastic that ends up as discarded waste.

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  • Coca-Cola has been accused of greenwashing
    Coca-Cola has been accused of greenwashing

Coca-Cola, ironically the sponsor of the COP27 United Nations Climate Summit in Egypt, is named the worst plastic polluter in the world for the fifth time in a row, followed by PepsiCo. 

According to its annual brand audit, Break Free From Plastic, a coalition of 2,700 NGOs working to reduce single-use plastic, found that the US-based company has been the world’s “top polluter” this year.

The brand audits aim at gathering evidence to hold corporations responsible for unrecyclable plastic or recyclable plastic that ends up as discarded waste.

Last month, Emma Priestland, the coordinator for Break Free From Plastic said: “Coca-Cola sponsoring the Cop27 is pure ‘greenwash’. Coca-Cola is one of the world’s biggest users of plastic. Over four years, we’ve found Coca-Cola to be the world’s top plastic polluter in our annual brand audits... it’s astounding that a company so tied to the fossil fuel industry is allowed to sponsor such a vital climate meeting.”

Waste was collected from indoors and outdoors, streets and neighborhoods in 87 countries between the years 2018 and 2022 and Break Free From Plastic recorded 2,125,414 pieces of plastic waste.

The plastic waste belonged to Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Unilever, MondelÄ“z International, Mars, Procter & Gamble, Philip Morris International, Danone, and Ferrero Group.

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The report discovered more than 1,000 Coca-Cola branded products were found this year alone— more than 1000 waste products in 11 countries and more than 30,000 in 39 countries. “Year after year, the exact same FMCG companies continue to dominate the list, with the Coca-Cola Company standing out as the clear top polluter by a significant margin over all five years,” Break Free From Plastic said.

In a dozen countries including Bangladesh, Argentina, Malaysia, Kenya, and Turkey, Coca-Cola made the top of the list of wastage, but competitor PepsiCo topped the list in both the US and India as the number one polluter this year - Philip Morris International, a multinational tobacco company, ranked the top polluter this year in the UK. 

Packaging such as wrappers, coffee cups, sachets, cigarette ends and masks were the most common type of waste.

Greenwashing by Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola has been accused of greenwashing - the term used to describe an action taken by a company claiming to be environment-friendly to distract from the fact that it is a net polluter. Just in 2019, the company admitted to producing 3 million tonnes of plastic packaging per year which amounts to 200,000 bottles a minute.

Dharmesh Shah, policy adviser at the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives and a contributor to the audit, said that the lack of will from the companies, and government regulators, as well as the cost of doing business constituted reasons for increased plastic waste. 

“There is an undeniable link between plastics and climate with several new reports showing the impact of plastic production on climate … plastics cannot be eliminated completely, but the quantity of single-use plastic is way more than we can handle,” Shah told The National.

"There needs to be a cap on plastic production and recycling of waste tackled on an international scale. The kind of cheap plastic used in FMCG has no recycling value, the economies don’t work as the process is expensive,” he said.

  • COP27
  • Egypt
  • Philip Morris International
  • Coca-Cola
  • PepsiCo

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