The study is published in Science Advances. It found that 56 companies make up half of the world’s branded plastic pollution.
The researchers used data from a five-year program (2018-2022). It covered 84 countries to identify brands found as plastic waste in the environment.
Food and drinks
CSIRO is Australia’s national science agency. She co-authored the article along with 12 other international organizations. It is the first quantification of its kind. Dr Kathy Willis is a postdoctoral researcher at CSIRO. She said: “We found that 13 companies have an individual contribution of 1 per cent or more of total branded plastic. “They produce food, beverages or tobacco products.” The main brand worldwide was The Coca-Cola Company. It is linked to 11 percent of branded items. PepsiCo (5 percent), Nestlé (3 percent) and Danone (3 percent) follow.
What does the prevalence of food and beverage companies suggest? That single-use packaging contributes significantly to branded plastic pollution. “A 1 percent increase in plastic production equals 1 percent in plastic pollution,” Willis said.
«There is a relationship between very diverse geographies and waste management systems. “This suggests that reducing plastic production could help curb plastic pollution.” The researchers stated this in a statement. «This would have a positive impact on the environment. Also the change towards more durable and reusable products.
The research is based on knowledge about brand-name plastic pollution. It is the first quantitative analysis of the relationship between plastic production and brand-name plastic pollution.
Solutions
“There is an urgent need to find solutions to tackle single-use plastics,” said Dr Willis. “This includes safe and sustainable product designs. “Global demand for new products must be reduced by increasing reuse, reparability and recyclability.”
56 companies do half of the pollution. But a high percentage of the items were unbranded. Improving product branding and labeling could improve traceability and accountability.
“International standards for packaging branding would help the tracking and management of plastic products,” Willis said.
