Coca-Cola – News Agency nabakhabar

Lotte Chilsung, JDC, Coca-Cola hit for generating most single-use plastic waste

News Agency nabakhabar — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 20:18:51 +0000

Lotte Chilsung, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Development Corp. (JDC) and Coca-Cola generate the most single-use plastic waste among the country’s food and beverage makers, according to Greenpeace Korea, Wednesday.

The environmental group released the findings after surveying over 2,000 participants who kept track of all the single-use plastic waste they discarded for a week last July and logged the results in a smartphone app. The group then categorized the results according to manufacturer, function and material.

Out of a total of 86,055 pieces of plastic waste reported by the participants, 78.3 percent came from food packaging. Among them, waste from drinking water and beverage bottles accounted for the most at 37.6 percent, followed by waste from snacks and takeout meal packaging. Lotte Chilsung was responsible for the highest portion of the figure with 3,864 pieces of waste, nearly 12 percent of the total volume of trash. Greenpeace Korea said the company has been the top producer of single-use plastic waste since 2021.

JDC ranked second with 7.6 percent and Coca-Cola was in third with 5.3 percent. Logistics company Coupang, with its private-brand drinking water product, and Dong-A Otsuka continued the list.

The top five firms accounted for nearly 10,000 pieces of single-use plastic waste, over 30 percent of the total plastic waste from the drinking water and beverage sector.

“These top polluters have been promoting how they effectively reduced plastic waste by making their PET bottles lighter and removing labels from the bottles,” Greenpeace Korea said. “But it was in fact their greenwashing effort to cover up the fact that they have been generating and dumping plastic waste in larger amounts than they saved.”

Lotte Chilsung also topped the ranking of plastic waste generators among food product manufacturers in the country. Out of over 4,500 manufacturers, the company’s products accounted for the most with 4.6 percent. Nongshim, JDC, Coca-Cola and Ottogi followed in the ranking. The top 10 firms accounted for over 19,000 pieces of single-use plastic waste, over 22 percent of the entire batch.

For its report, Greenpeace Korea studied ESG reports and performance reports disclosed by the firms. It said none of the companies had any plans to reuse or refill the used plastic bottles, a measure considered most critical for waste reduction.

“These top 10 firms hardly changed in our survey in the past four years as they have been leading the consumption of a massive amount of plastics and the trend of single-use products in the country,” the report said. “Despite people’s consistent demands for the companies to change their business practices to be eco-friendlier, the firms have yet to invest in serious efforts to reduce their plastic waste.”

Global environmentalist groups have been tracking companies’ volumes of single-use plastic waste for years. Break Free From Plastic, a global alliance with about 2,300 environmental organizations worldwide, conducted brand audits for global companies from 2018 until 2022. It designated Coca-Cola as the top polluter for five consecutive years while revealing Nestle, PepsiCo and Unilever as other global polluters.

“Not to mention that these firms contributed immensely to generating plastic waste globally, they agreed that reuse is more effective than recycling,” said Kim Nara, a plastic campaigner from Greenpeace Korea.

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Op-Ed: Food Industry Giants Must Fix Their Plastic Pollution

News Agency nabakhabar — Sat, 08 Jul 2023 19:00:56 +0000

McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and other major brands are creating massive amounts of plastic waste. Their initiatives are not enough and they need to be held accountable for the plastics crisis.

Plastic has allowed many food industry giants to become the massive entities they are today. For example, Coca-Cola generates 3 million tons of plastic packaging a year; PepsiCo has been found to use nearly 2.3 billion tons of plastic each year for its bottles and packaging; and McDonald’s has been called out for generating the weight of “100 Eiffel Towers” worth of packaging waste.

It hasn’t always been this way. Plastic became the packaging material of choice in the mid-20th century, when it took over human imagination with its malleability, seeming ease of production, and strength. Its production increased threefold during WWII alone.

The political power of plastic also became palpable rather quickly with the emergence of plastic industry lobbying more than 30 years ago. Its primary function has been to fight laws designed to safeguard people and the planet from plastic’s well-documented toxicity. Plastic industry lobbyists also amped up their work as widespread concern grew about plastic’s presence in the ocean, in animals, in farming systems, and in the human body. And while the industry has always had grand plans of recycling its plastic waste, most plastic is not recycled today.

“Predictably, when we take a closer look at some of these initiatives, what we find is not much evidence of meaningful or sustained progress.”

This lobby’s political power was also present in the corridors of the United Nations recently, as the majority of the world’s countries negotiated a legally binding agreement on plastic pollution focused on production, design, use, and disposal. In this context, the industry has worked diligently to position itself as a solution to a crisis it has avariciously fueled.

Over the years, in addition to making unverifiable commitments to reduce the use of plastic and ensure more of its products are recycled, the industry has convened at platforms like the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, the World Economic Forum, Global Plastic Action Partnership, and the NextGen Consortium.

The industry has also judiciously crafted narratives about its commitment to solving this global emergency by supporting entities like the Ocean Cleanup, Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas Alliance, and World Wildlife Fund’s ReSource.

Predictably, when we take a closer look at some of these initiatives, what we find is not much evidence of meaningful or sustained progress. In fact, recent investigations have found that many corporations like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have been backing these initiatives while using more plastic than even before.

There is also a litany of corporate doublespeak on plastic in the media. Take the recent New York Times article by Boyan Slat titled, “Reducing Plastic Pollution in Our Oceans Is Simpler Than You Think.”

Slat is the founder of Ocean Cleanup, “a nonprofit funded by donations and a range of philanthropic partners with the mission to rid the oceans of plastic.” In the article, Slat claims his program has salvaged “more than 0.2 percent of the plastic in the [garbage] patch so far,” and mentions the need for stopping “more plastic from flowing into the oceans,” but conspicuously shies away from calling on Coca-Cola and his other program partners to stop producing plastic.

Instead, he writes that “meaningful reductions in plastic use will be difficult to achieve.” Slat also blames the lagging waste management systems in middle- and lower-income countries for the majority of ocean plastic pollution without recognizing that much of the plastic waste from the Global North is in fact being dumped in middle- and lower-income countries—such as Vietnam, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

He fails to recognize the fact that it is often “waste colonialism” that forces these nations to become what Slat calls “hot spots” of plastic pollution.

Corporations often tout the fact that the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s (EMF) New Plastics Economy Global Commitment reports on their plastic use. But if you dig deeper, the information it shares doesn’t provide much actual transparency.

For instance, its audit of PepsiCo says there is “no third-party verification or assurance in place.” Coca-Cola’s reporting on this portal yielded no concrete third-party reviewed progress, but more of the same—self-reporting and more corporate marketing speech than evidence of verifiable progress. In fact, an analysis done by Oceana of the data from the 2022 progress report found that Coca-Cola increased its plastic packaging use by nearly 9 percent between 2020 and 2021, and PepsiCo increased its use of virgin plastic by 4.5 percent in 2021 compared with the previous year.

Another disturbing example of promises unkept comes from the world’s largest distributor of plastic toys, McDonald’s. It has publicly committed to “drastically reduce plastics in Happy Meal toys [including the latest toy, a replica of The Little Mermaid, a symbol of the ocean] around the globe and transition to more sustainable materials by the end of 2025.”

However, when some of the largest food and beverage corporations were surveyed by a conservation organization last year, McDonald’s emerged as one of only two whose “plastic intensity” was actually increasing. And then at the company’s annual meeting in May, McDonald’s faced investor scrutiny (p.101) for its staunch opposition to proposed EU plastic waste reduction laws.

The company distributes nearly 1 billion toys a year, every year. To its credit, it claims that in Japan it has recovered toys to make trays that can be equivalent to approximately 0.75 percent of its annual global toy distribution. The number of recycled toys for other countries where it operates, and there are nearly 100 of them, are difficult to find; it’s not clear whether they even exist.

All these initiatives and commitments tell the true story of plastic. It is about time McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and other food and beverage companies own up to their role in fueling the plastics crisis, by eliminating the use of plastic from their entire supply chains immediately. For more than 80 years, Coca-Cola mainly used glass and aluminum, so it can be done! It’s time for these companies to devise business models that stop exploiting the planet, its ecosystems, and the public to benefit a handful of shareholders.

These corporations also need to be held accountable by legal systems and democratic institutions across the world for their inaction.

Yes, the power of plastic has proven potent in changing the course of our history, but lest the world forget, so has the power of the people to determine our collective future. It’s about time food and beverage companies stopped jeopardizing the viability of future generations of all species to have a livable planet to call home.

Ashka Naik is a director of research and policy at Corporate Accountability. Her work focuses on strategic campaign development, corporate research, and equity-centered analysis of corporate power across issues that guide the vision and overall success of the campaigns. She also spearheads Corporate Accountability’s food program, which focuses on structural determinants and sociopolitical dimensions of food systems, nutrition, and public health, while uncovering the industry’s influence in the policies and politics of global food security, sovereignty, and justice.

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Coca-Cola accused of telling employees to ‘be LESS WHITE’ in training course by critical race theory peddler DiAngelo

News Agency nabakhabar — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 15:34:36 +0000

Coca-Cola is facing a major backlash for allegedly joining a series of American corporations that indoctrinate their white employees with critical race theory – including demands that they “try to be less white.”

Organizational psychologist Karlyn Borysenko, an activist against so-called critical race theory indoctrination, said on Friday that she obtained copies of the training materials from a whistleblower at Coca-Cola who received an email from management announcing the course. The class is administered online, through the LinkedIn Learning platform, and is entitled “Confronting Racism, with Robin DiAngelo,” a top proponent of critical race theory who offers high-dollar corporate seminars on “whiteness, white fragility” and “racial justice.” She is known to charge up to $40,000 for a half-day talk.

🚨🚨🚨 BREAKING: Coca-Cola is forcing employees to complete online training telling them to “try to be less white.” These images are from an internal whistleblower: pic.twitter.com/gRi4N20esZ

— Karlyn supports banning critical race theory in NH (@DrKarlynB) February 19, 2021

A spokesperson from Coca-Cola responded to the images later on Friday, all but confirming they were from a company-endorsed seminar to Blaze journalist Chris Pandolfo, though said it was not the main “focus” of its educational program.

“The video circulating on social media is from a publicly available LinkedIn Learning series and is not a focus of our company’s curriculum,” the spokesperson said, but added that the course is “part of a learning plan to help build an inclusive workplace.”

The heading for the course indicates that it will cover “understanding what it means to be white,” and “challenging what it means to be racist.” Students are told that “to be less white is to: be less oppressive; be less arrogant; be less certain; be less defensive; be less ignorant; be more humble; listen; believe; break with apathy;” and “break with white solidarity.”

It stands to reason that white people inherently have all those undesirable traits, such as being oppressive, arrogant and defensive. The underlying point of the mandatory training is made all by itself on another slide: “Try to be less white.”

“Your job at Coca-Cola should not depend on whether or not you buy into the idea of being less white,” Borysenko said. “It should depend on whether or not you can go in and do your job.”

The anti-racism training course also includes a slide advising that “one-time workshops on racism are not enough.” Employees are told to take such steps as creating “monthly affinity groups, cross-racial discussions, ongoing professional development, and revamped interview questions.”

Borysenko said that advice is all about keeping the money flowing to so-called “diversity trainers” like DiAngelo.

Conservative author and Blexit founder Candace Owens pointed out that if the course endeavored to teach employees how to “be less black, the world would implode and lawsuits would follow. I genuinely hope these employees sue Coca-Cola for blatant racism and discrimination.”

If a corporate company sent around a training kit instructing black people how to “be less black”, the world would implode and lawsuits would follow. I genuinely hope these employees sue @CocaCola for blatant racism and discrimination. https://t.co/07OPZouEcV

— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) February 19, 2021

Netizens roasted the company over the leaked images, some even calling on the Department of Justice to investigate how Coca-Cola allegedly “discriminated against” its employees, while one self-avowed business owner said she’d remove a company vending machine from her establishment. The controversy also prompted Donald Trump Jr., the son of the former president, to weigh in.

Being a white female minority small business owner who allows @CocaCola to have a coke machine in my establishment I will be contacting them Monday morning to demand them remove their shit products out of my private establishment https://t.co/zsgngjNJiq

— Chasity Pawvlik (@ChasityAnn426) February 19, 2021

OMG https://t.co/SmDAef3dRR

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 19, 2021

Some users pushed back and hailed Coca-Cola for its efforts, suggesting “only bigots are mad” about the training course. While one commenter suggested the seminar should have focused on “whiteness” itself rather than how employees must be “less white,” he nonetheless added “good on Coca-Cola for doing this work.”

Only bigots are mad at Coca-Cola for the “less white” training. They’re the only ones who won’t even examine what else is there because they center themselves in white vapidity, the not so subtle art of not giving AF, proving the training’s very premise

— 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐞 (@exavierpope) February 20, 2021

They should have changed this to talk specifically about “whiteness” and not “Be less white” but good on @CocaCola for doing this work. Also, work with us at @SpawnOnMe. We are extremely less white lol https://t.co/M7ewpnag9O

— Kahlief “BHM=Better Have Money” Adams (@Kahjahkins) February 19, 2021

One of the leading peddlers of the critical race doctrine, DiAngelo is perhaps best known for her book ‘White Fragility’, which impugns white people for becoming angry, defensive or hostile when “confronted with the idea that they are complicit in systemic racism.” Former President Donald Trump last September banned federal agencies from subjecting their employees to training based on critical race theory after finding that it was “divisive, anti-American propaganda.” President Joe Biden rescinded that ban last month, on his first day in office.

Coca-Cola previously produced an ‘Allyship Guidebook’ for employees amid last summer’s wave of US race riots. Borysenko believes the latest racial wokeness effort by the company won’t be helpful to employees of any skin color. “You are not creating a healthier work environment,” she said. “You’re doing nothing but creating more division and teaching… a large portion of your staff to hate themselves.”

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Coca-Cola pauses advertising on all social media platforms globally

News Agency nabakhabar — Sun, 28 Jun 2020 05:44:57 +0000

Coca-Cola on Friday announced it will be pausing paid advertising on all social media platforms globally for at least 30 days.

The company clarified it was not joining the official boycott, but said “we are pausing” advertising.

In the week since a group of organizations have called on Facebook advertisers to pause their ad spending during the month of July, more than 90 marketers including Verizon, Patagonia, REI, Lending Club and The North Face have announced their intention to join, according to a running list from Sleeping Giants. The group of organizations includes the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, Sleeping Giants, Color of Change, Free Press and Common Sense.

“There is no place for racism in the world and there is no place for racism on social media,” Coca-Cola CEO and Chairman, James Quincey, said in a statement. “The Coca-Cola Company will pause paid advertising on all social media platforms globally for at least 30 days. We will take this time to reassess our advertising policies to determine whether revisions are needed. We also expect greater accountability and transparency from our social media partners.”

The beverage giant has been posting quotes about diversity and ending systemic racism on its Twitter account, including support for NASCAR’s only Black driver, Bubba Wallace.

Coca-Cola’s announcement comes after Unilever, whose brands include Dove, Ben & Jerry’s and Hellmann’s, said Friday it will halt advertising on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter in the U.S. at least through Dec. 31.

Unilever joined brands like Eddie Bauer, The North Face and Patagonia as part of a campaign forcing the social media network to more stringently police hate speech and disinformation by taking a number of actions, including creating a “separate moderation pipeline” for users who say they’ve been targeted because of their race or religion, or to let advertisers see how frequently their ads appeared near to content that was later removed for misinformation or hate, and allow them refunds for those advertisements.

Following Coca-Cola’s announcement, Levi’s and Dockers said they will be pausing all advertising on Facebook and Instagram through “at least” July: “Facebook must take actions to stop misinformation and hate speech on its platforms. It is an unacceptable affront to our values. We and Dockers are joining the #stophateforprofit campaign and pausing all ads on Facebook.”

Hershey’s also announced late Friday it will be cutting spending on Facebook and Instagram by a third for the rest of the year and joining the #stophateforprofit boycott.

“We do not believe that Facebook is effectively managing violent and divisive speech on their platform. Despite repeated assertions by Facebook to take action, we have not seen meaningful change,” the company said in a statement. “Earlier this month we communicated to Facebook that we were unhappy with their stance on hate speech. We have now cut our spending on Facebook and their platforms, including Instagram, by a third for the remainder of the year. We are hopeful that Facebook will take action and make it a safe space for our consumers to communicate and gather. As a company, we stand for the values of togetherness and inclusion and we are resolute in our commitment to make a difference and be part of positive change.”

Procter & Gamble, another major Facebook spender, said earlier this week it is reviewing all media channels, networks, platforms and programs it advertises on “to ensure that the content and commentary accurately and respectfully all people, and that we are not advertising on or near content we determine to be hateful, discriminatory, denigrating or derogatory.”

“As part of that, we’re working with media companies and platforms to take appropriate systemic action where needed,” P&G chief brand officer Marc Pritchard said. The company, reached for comment, declined to specifically comment on Facebook.

During a livestream on Facebook, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he intends to discuss “new policies to connect people with authoritative information about voting, crack down on voter suppression, and fight hate speech.” He did not directly address the advertiser boycotts.

In a recent memo to advertisers obtained by CNBC, Facebook’s VP of global marketing solutions, Carolyn Everson, said “boycotting in general is not the way for us to make progress together.”

“I also really hope by now you know that we do not make policy changes tied to revenue pressure,” she said in the memo. “We set our policies based on principles rather than business interests.”

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