Coke and PepsiCo abandon the plastics lobby

USA | Having made sweeping sustainability pledges, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo did the only logical thing and stepped away from a plastics lobbying group, the Plastics Industry Association, amid activist pressure.

As reports CNN, both firms are trying to increase the amount of recycled plastic they use in bottles, while improving recycling infrastructures to ensure their packages are recyclable.

The Plastics Industry Association, of which the two were members, has ties to another lobby group, the American Progressive Bag Alliance, which tries to persuade local governments not to ban plastic.

Coke and PepsiCo feared that their involvement with the Association and by extension with the Alliance, would tarnish their reputations. In corporate speak, “the optics of membership are bad”.

Coke withdrew from the Association earlier this year and PepsiCo’s membership will conclude at the end of this year.

The move may help reassure some customers, says CNN. But as people grow more worried about the negative impacts of plastic pollution on the environment, as well as on animal and human health, companies like Pepsi and Coke will have to go even further to find a solution.

Coca-Cola (KO) recently disclosed that it produced 3.3 million tons of plastic in 2017. PepsiCo has not revealed how much plastic it uses.

Both companies are trying to figure out ways to reduce their use of virgin plastics and increase recycling. They are also exploring alternatives to plastics, like aluminium, that are easier to recycle. Apart from that, they are investigating the option of refill stations that would eliminate single-use packaging altogether.

According to CNN, Pepsi has committed to using only recyclable, compostable or biodegradable packaging by 2025, and it has pledged to make new plastic bottles, which contain 25 percent recycled material. Coke, for its part, has set itself recycling goals, which include collecting and recycling the equivalent of every bottle or can it sells by 2030. The company has also committed to making its bottles and cans out of at least 50 percent recycled material in the next 11 years.