In 2030, the products of Coca-cola They will represent more than 600,000 tons of Plastic waste Poured into the oceans and river routes of the world every year, according to a new report published on Wednesday by the non -profit organization Oceana.
That is equivalent to enough plastic to fill the stomach of 18 million whales.
The report comes in the midst of the growing concern for the risks to human health that involves the proliferation of microplastics, which scientists increasingly link with cancer, infertility and heart disease.
“Coca-Cola is, by distress, the largest manufacturer and seller of the world”Said Matt Littlejohn, who leads Oceana campaigns aimed at polluting companies.
“Therefore, they are really important when it comes to the impact of all this on the ocean.”
Coca-Cola is the largest plastic contaminant worldwide followed by Pepsico, Nestlé, Danone and Altria, according to a 2024 study published in Science Advances.
The Oceana forecast is based on packaging data published by Coca-Cola between 2018 and 2023, combined with sales growth estimates.
The result: it is projected that the use of plastic by the company exceeds 4.13 million tons per year by 2030.
The NGO applied a scientific method presented in the magazine Science In 2020 to estimate the proportion of this plastic that could end in aquatic ecosystems, obtaining a total of 602,000 tons, equivalent to almost 220,000 million 500 ml bottles.
For Oceana, the clearest solution to reduce this amazing figure It goes to recover reusable containerseither in the form of returnable glass bottles, which can be reused 50 times, or thicker PET plastic containers, designed for 25 uses.