Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and McDonald’s ‘responsible for 39% of UK’s branded packaging pollution’
Source: https://www.edie.net/
Figures published on 23 August by charity Surfers Against Sewage reveal that packaging from these brands accounted for 39% of the branded items that more than 3,700 volunteers collected from more than 13,000 miles in the UK this year as part of its ‘Million Mile Clean’ litter picks. The collections covered a variety of locations including beaches, rivers, forests and streets. In total, 28,727 items were collected, of which 10,843 (37.8%) could be identified by a particular brand. The NGO is pushing all 12 of the named brands to go further and faster on implementing refillable packaging and to advocate for stronger policy action to end litter, including the introduction of a comprehensive, UK-wide deposit-return scheme. Such a scheme was first promised in late 2018 and, following a string of delays, is now likely to come into force in 2024 at the earliest. Surfers Against Sewage notes in its report that 55% of the litter collected would be covered by an ‘all-in’ deposit return scheme, which would cover beverages housed in packaging of an array of sizes and materials.