Coke Knew Their Plastic Would Trash the Planet…And Did It Anyway
How Coke killed the refillable bottle
Plastic. It is everywhere, including our environment. In images of global plastic waste there are products we can all identify, but one that is always in abundance is the plastic bottle.
The single-use plastic bottle is one of the largest sources of plastic packaging pollution and a symbol of environmental destruction. One of the main contributors to this problem is Coca-Cola. A 2023 global brand audit named Coca-Cola the largest plastic polluter, a title it has maintained for six consecutive years. Plastic pollution from the company was found in 40 countries with plastic bottles being the most common pollutant.
It is estimated that Coke creates around 200,000 metric tons of plastic waste annually. Rather than adapting to fix the issue, they are ignoring it.
Interestingly, there is a viable alternative — refillable bottles.
While this may be a foreign concept to many, this was once the only way beverages were distributed in the US. While the US no longer has this system in place, there are 170 countries worldwide that have successful refill systems. These include Mexico, Germany, and the Philippines.
We know it works, however, because Coke does not have to return to this system, they won’t. Yet, despite the known environmental impacts, Coke was a driving force in eliminating this system.
The Refillable Bottle
Before Coca-Cola became the bottled drink we all know and recognize, it was solely a social drink. Invented in the Gilded Age, Coke was marketed primarily for Soda Fountains. These were establishments where middle-class individuals went to socialize and enjoy a beverage. However, places selling Coke in locations with large countryside and rural markets had the idea of buying Coke and selling it to these new markets. This led to the bottling of Coca-Cola.
From this point, glass bottled Coke was sold at every corner store with small local bottlers running the distribution. The bottles these small local bottlers used were returnable, as they wanted to reuse bottles to reduce cost. To ensure bottles were returned, customers had to give a deposit when purchasing their beverage. Upon returning their bottle, the deposit was also returned. This deposit was typically about two cents, for a five-cent drink.
This system is called a Deposit Return System (DRS) and laws that mandate DRS are known as “bottle bills”. The economic incentive for consumers to return the bottles at a collection point is effective and proven to reduce beverage packaging waste.
Introduction of the Plastic Bottle
Moving into the 1950s, this began to change. Coke transitioned to a new system due to the formation of the Interstate Highway Act, the development of suburban markets, and neighborhoods, and the decentralization of the US population. A convenient system was the solution. As producing disposable glass bottles was expensive, the transition to plastic bottles began.
In 1970 Coca-Cola introduced the plastic bottle, with Paul Austin, the CEO stating “Through our research… we’re convinced that the plastic bottle is one of the most environmentally responsible packaging options available”.
However, research conducted at the time suggests others.
In 1969, Coke conducted one of the first life cycle analysis studies on various bottles. Shortly after the Midwest Research Institute completed the same study for the US Environmental Protection Agency and claims to have had similar findings. The conclusion was “As has been shown in the primary results for containers presently in use, the reusable glass bottles have lower overall impacts on resources and the environment than the other conventional containers”.
So, despite claims stating otherwise, the plastic switch was predominantly driven by profit.
Fighting for the Environment
Not everyone embraced the transition to disposable plastic. People were concerned about the environmental effects, especially regarding litter. There was a sentiment among middle-class Americans that the aesthetic beauty of nature was being corrupted by waste.
In amongst the public concern, a bill was put before Congress in 1970 that would have banned non-returnable containers in the US. This bill was supported by 22 house members, worrying the industry. So, they fought back by shifting responsibility to the public.
The canning, brewing, and beverage industry created the ‘Keep America Beautiful’ organization. This organization, primarily founded by Coke and PepsiCo, had the sole purpose of deflecting accusations that the industry was to blame for the litter across the country.
The ‘Keep America Beautiful’ organization started the anti-littering campaign “The Crying Indian”. This infamous campaign, now retired due to its appropriation of indigenous culture, depicts images of litter destroying the environment with the message “People start pollution, and people can stop it” taking responsibility away from the producer and placing it on the consumer. This was followed by the brewing industry gaining federal and state Municipal support to create the infrastructure for curbside recycling.
Some people truly believed that recycling was a solution in these companies, but history shows it didn’t work.
Recycling Is Not a Solution
Recycling was marketed as a solution to the plastic waste crisis. Instead of plastic waste littering our beautiful landscapes, it could be reused for decades and decades to come. The way to prevent nature from being destroyed by plastic products was for the consumer to act responsibly and recycle.
However, a report from the Centre for Climate Integrity (CCI) revealed that the plastic industry has always known recycling is not a real solution. This is due to the very nature of plastic recycling. Every time a plastic product is recycled, it degrades until it can’t be reused. As a result, all products made from plastic will eventually end up as waste.
The only solution is to move away from plastic and return to refillable bottles.
Coke has pledged to have at least 25% of its beverages sold in reusable glass, plastic, or refillable fountain containers by 2030 but has continued to use more single-use plastic. Coke is falling behind on this promise but because there are few policies and laws to regulate the production of plastic, we have to rely on the companies to stand by their word despite their continued failures to do what is best for the environment and consumer health.
Whether you simply start conversations or contact your representatives, we all must get involved to ensure action is taken.
