Coca-Cola Co. used 3 million metric tons of plastic packaging in 2017, a number that equals 200,000 PET bottles per minute or 108 billion bottles per year.
The information was supplied to the sustainability nonprofit Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which has been campaigning for companies and governments to do more to help reduce plastic pollution, and Coke is not the only major consumer brand releasing details on its plastic packaging use.
The foundation report is reported to be the first time Atlanta-based Coca-Cola has revealed the amount of plastic it produces. In total, 31 companies released details about their plastics usage, including suppliers to consumer brands, although many did not disclose specific information about its plastic use.
Name brands who did disclose plastic consumption included:
• Colgate-Palmolive Co., 287,000 metric tons.
• Danone SA, 750,000 metric tons.
• Mars Inc., 129,000 metric tons.
• Nestlé, 1.7 million metric tons.
• SC Johnson, 90,000 metric tons.
• Unilever, 610,000 metric tons.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation commented: “The decision by more than 30 companies to publicly [reveal] their annual plastic packaging volumes in the report is an important step towards greater transparency.”
The majority of the 150 companies which signed up to the foundation's global commitment to reduce plastic waste have declined to release plastic usage figures.
Indorama and Borealis are the only plastic raw material producers which have signed up to the foundation's program.
