Articole | 7 august 2024

Greenwash Games? French public points finger at Coca-Cola over Olympics plastic waste

The Paris Olympics promised to be the most eco-friendly Games in history, reducing by half the amount of single-use plastic compared with London 2012.

French environmental groups, however, have criticised what they called a “bizarre” and “surreal” sight at certain venues’ drinks stands run by the main sponsor, Coca-Cola. Servers can be seen filling plastic reusable, so-called “eco-cups” from 50cl plastic bottles, amassing sacks of empty bottles for recycling.

Environmental campaigners said millions of plastic drink bottles being needlessly poured into millions of plastic cups was a double use of plastic and amounted to “greenwashing”.

Coca-Cola, the American drinks giant which is one of the world’s top plastics producers, is a key Olympic sponsor and the only company supplying the 18 million drinks at the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, including Coke, Fanta and Sprite, which are sold to paying spectators and provided to athletes at the edge of the pitch.

The company said in a statement that it “supports the Games’ ambitions to reduce single-use plastic” and was committed to reducing waste. It said more than half of its drinks at the Olympics – 9.6 million – were “without single-use plastic” after it installed 700 soda fountains and brought in glass bottles.

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Tag-uri: Deșeuri, Plastic, Reciclare