August 30, 2018/3BL Media /Global consumers now use a million plastic bottles every minute. Though most beverage bottles are made from a readily recyclable type of plastic, less than 10 percent are ultimately recycled—and up to 14 million metric tons of plastic, including discarded beverage bottles, enter the world’s oceans every year. As our growing addiction to single-use plastic becomes painfully apparent on land and sea, citizens, NGOs and other stakeholders are calling on consumer goods manufacturers to do more to reduce plastic waste.
A move toward a more responsible packaging supply chain is long overdue, but a handful of food and beverage companies are finally putting commitments on the books. French bottled water giant Evian plans to use 100 percent recycled plastic bottles by 2025—one of the most aggressive corporate goals on record. Coca-Cola says it will “collect and recycle 100 percent of its packaging” by 2030, though how it aims to do that remains to be seen. Fellow consumer goods giant PepsiCo aims to make its entire packaging portfolio—which includes things like chip bags, snack bar wrappers and perishable food containers along with beverage bottles—recoverable or recyclable by 2025. It also pledged to forge stakeholder partnerships that will increase packaging recovery and recycling.
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