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Put away the plastic! That’s become the new pledge for the 250 major brands aiming to cut plastic waste from their operations. Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s, and Nestle joined others in a significant move to cut down on the pollution that’s harming our environment.
Recently, organizations and citizens dedicated to cleaning our ocean and landfills have asked retailers and manufacturers to cut down on waste, and it seems their tireless benevolent efforts have paid off!
The big name brands vowed to get rid of all single-use plastics and focus on developing and investing in technology, creating only 100% recyclable packaging by 2025. While people used the power of their voice to push the initiative along, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) also showed their support by partnering up and setting targets.
Executive director of UNEP, Erik Solheim, said it’s the “most ambitious set of targets we have seen yet in the fight to beat plastics pollution.” Ambitious for good reason. If our pollution rates continue as is, by 2050, there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish, UNEP declared.
While there are many efforts dedicated to cleaning up our plastic, this is one of the biggest pledges that aims to drastically cut down usage.
Ben Jordan, senior director of environmental policy at Coca-Cola said that the brand’s focus has turned towards a more renewable approach. “We are focused on improving the sustainability of all of our packaging, regardless of the type, and increasing the amount of recycled and renewable material,” he said.
Thanks to organizations like the WWF, Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, and more, public knowledge about the importance of conservation and recycling has grown exponentially, and now that major companies are joining their mission, we’re closer and closer to a cleaner, more sustainable world. Pavan Sukhdev, president of WWF International, said the companies pledges were “an important step forward to join the efforts of businesses and governments around the world towards system-wide solutions.”
And just a few weeks ago, the European Parliament voted to ban the use of single-use plastics, including cutlery, and straws by 2021.
Greener world, here we come.
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