Coca-Cola has come under intense scrutiny after quietly abandoning its commitment to make 25% of its drinks in reusable packaging by 2030. The decision has drawn criticism from environmental campaigners, who accuse the company of “greenwashing” and undermining efforts to address the global plastic crisis.
In 2022, Coca-Cola pledged that 25% of its drinks would be sold in refillable or returnable glass or plastic bottles, or in refillable containers called ‘Coca-Cola freestyle dispensers’. However, this pledge has recently disappeared from Coca-Cola’s website. Coca-Cola’s updated sustainability goals now state that it will ‘aim to use 35% to 40% recycled material in primary packaging (plastic, glass, and aluminium),’ including increasing the global use of recycled plastic to 30% to 35%. This is a marked shift from its previous goal of using 50% recycled material in all packaging by 2030.
Additionally, the company has pledged to “help ensure the collection of 70% to 75% of the equivalent number of bottles and cans introduced into the market annually,” though it has not provided a clear timeline for achieving this. The company has committed to ensuring the collection of 70% to 75% of bottles and cans it puts into the market annually but has not provided a clear timeline for this objective.
Environmental groups have sharply criticised the company’s revised targets, arguing that prioritising recycling over reuse fails to address the root causes of plastic pollution. Campaigners stress that single-use plastics—whether recycled or not—continue to dominate waste streams and contribute to widespread environmental harm.
Von Hernandez, global coordinator for the campaign group Break Free from Plastic, described Coca-Cola’s decision as a “masterclass in greenwashing.” He said, “Ditching previously announced reuse targets and choosing to flood the planet with more plastic they can’t even collect and recycle effectively only reinforces the company’s reputation as the world’s top plastic polluter. If they can’t even keep their low-bar commitments, how can they claim to be serious about addressing the global plastic crisis?”
The backlash follows years of criticism over Coca-Cola’s role as a major plastic polluter. For six consecutive years, the company has been named the world’s worst plastic polluter by Break Free from Plastic. In 2023, an audit by the organisation found that Coca-Cola-branded waste accounted for 33,830 pieces of plastic pollution collected across 40 countries, with its bottles often found littering public spaces such as parks and beaches.
The controversy surrounding Coca-Cola’s decision comes as global efforts to tackle plastic waste face significant challenges. At last month’s plastics summit in Busan, South Korea, nearly 200 nations failed to agree on measures to reduce plastic production. The negotiations were divided between countries pushing for ambitious restrictions on plastic manufacturing and others advocating for waste management solutions instead.
Critics have also questioned the company’s motives for abandoning its reuse targets, noting that reusable packaging is widely regarded as a more sustainable alternative to recycling.
Bea Perez, Coca-Cola’s executive vice president for sustainability and strategic partnerships, defended the updated targets, saying, “We remain committed to building long-term business resilience and earning our social licence to operate through our evolved voluntary environmental goals. These challenges are complex and require us to drive more effective and efficient resource allocation and work collaboratively with partners to deliver lasting positive impact.”
Earlier this year, Coca-Cola introduced bottles made from 100% recycled plastic for some of its soft drinks in the United States, claiming that the initiative would eliminate 83 million pounds of plastic from its supply chain annually. However, critics argue that such measures are insufficient to offset the environmental damage caused by the company’s reliance on single-use plastics. Environmental activists are now calling on Coca-Cola to reinstate its reusable packaging targets and take stronger action to combat plastic pollution. They warn that without meaningful change, the company risks further damaging its reputation while exacerbating the environmental crisis it has been accused of perpetuating.
