Worst Plastic Polluters in 2020

Climate change awareness appears to be creating substantial change in companies across the world, as a growing number of companies and corporations invest in eco-friendly policies and push for carbon neutrality within their own ranks. Still, the business model for many large corporations relies on materials and techniques that are fundamentally against the movement for a cleaner environment, and a new 2020 report shows how plastic waste has increased across several industries.

According to the Break Free From Plastic Movement, Coca-Cola, Pepsico and Nestlê were the three largest polluters of plastic in the world for 2020. The brand audits conducted by volunteers within the plastic movement collected thousands of polluted plastic samples associated with each parent corporation this year, with Coca-Cola leading the way with over 13,000 pieces of plastic analyzed from 51 countries. Pepsico and Nestlé were close behind with over 5,000 in 43 countries and 8,000 in 37 countries, respectively.

Break Free From Plastic utilized the efforts of nearly 15,000 volunteers across 55 countries this year to audit 575 brands on their plastic waste. The group collected roughly 346,000 pieces of plastic, leading to Coca-Cola, Pepsico and Nestlé retaining their spots as the world’s worst plastics polluters for the third year in a row. As noted by the movement, several of the companies that landed in the top 10 for worst plastic polluters have joined The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment – an initiative aimed at keeping corporations accountable for plastic waste and reducing pollution. Despite their membership, these companies continue to ignore the growing global problem of plastic pollution, and it seems 2020 has only accelerated this trend.