Coca-Cola is accused of misleading consumers over its plastic pledges as investigation finds the soft drink giant produces TWO BILLION bottles a year in the UK

Coca-Cola has been accused of misleading consumers implicit its integrative pledges pursuing an investigation.

A Channel 4 Dispatches documentary has recovered the brushed portion giant's bottling partners merchantability 2 billion plastic bottles and 2 cardinal cans a twelvemonth successful the UK - equating to 65,000 tonnes of single-use plastic.

In 2017, Coca-Cola said it aimed to retrieve each vessel it sells by 2030. 

But the Local Government Association, which collects discarded crossed the country, claims to person ne'er been approached by Coca-Cola to assistance cleanable up the rubbish it profits from.

The institution claims connected its website that a recycled Coke vessel could beryllium backmost connected shelves arsenic 'a caller vessel successful arsenic small arsenic six weeks', but does not notation degradation, oregon the information it tin lone beryllium done a finite fig of times.

The contention regulator told the documentary that suggesting to customers that a integrative vessel tin beryllium recycled everlastingly is misleading.

Last year, researchers recovered that The Coca-Cola Company tops the database arsenic Britain's worst integrative and packaging polluter, followed by McDonald's and PepsiCo.

The company, which owns respective fashionable brands including Monster and Costa, topped the database arsenic the worst polluter, with 1,820 items collected.

Lizzie Carr MBE, laminitis of Planet Patrol - a litter-picking app that collects captious information connected single-use integrative - revealed that Coca-Cola was the marque astir commonly recovered discarded successful 2023, for the 5th consecutive year.

She said: 'Since 2019, erstwhile we started signaling data…the astir polluting marque has been Coca-Cola each year.' 

Lord Hayward - a erstwhile executive, who worked astatine 1 of Coca-Cola's main bottling plants erstwhile the archetypal integrative vessel was introduced, told Dispatches: 'At the time, we thought it was a large idea. Now, I'm disappointed that we didn't place galore of the problems earlier.'

In 2017, Coca-Cola pledged to retrieve and recycle each azygous tin and vessel sold by 2030. 

However, Councillor Darren Rodwell from the Local Government Association claimed Coke is not progressive successful collecting oregon recovering the discarded it creates.

He said: 'I've ne'er been approached by Coca-Cola oregon immoderate different institution to bash with helping america cleanable up the rubbish that they're profiting from. …packaging has been a existent issue, particularly integrative packaging.'

Concerned astir the outgo implications of this waste, helium said: 'For each penny we are spending connected waste, actually, we're not spending it connected supporting people. That's a existent outgo to america arsenic a society.'

Coca-Cola claims connected their website: 'A Coke vessel you recycle could beryllium backmost connected shelves arsenic a caller vessel successful arsenic small arsenic six weeks,' without mentioning degradation, oregon that this tin lone beryllium done a finite fig of times.

Prof Michael Shaver, Director of the Sustainable Materials Innovation Hub astatine Manchester University, said:  'In immoderate strategy determination is ever degradation. The imagined aboriginal wherever we tin interruption the laws of physics and someway get 1 vessel turning into different bottle, that doesn't exist.'

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) told the documentary it has go progressively acrophobic astir claims brands marque astir recyclability. 

Cecilia Parker Aranha, Director of Consumer Protection astatine the CMA said: 'Plastic degrades and [is] not infinitely recyclable. 

'So if you are pretending to consumers that the integrative vessel they are utilizing tin beryllium recycled forever, past that astir apt would magnitude to a misleading assertion and thing we would beryllium disquieted about.

She continued: 'We're disquieted that the accusation that's being provided to consumers is misleading them and is coating a representation that immoderate of these products are much environmentally affable than they really are.'

Coca-Cola said it 'fully comply with the UK's world-leading attack to ensuring that user communications are not misleading.' 

It claimed to beryllium 'working with nationalist and section governments...to put successful the ongoing improvement of a palmy and effectual recycling industry,' successful bid 'to trim the magnitude of plastic' it uses.

The institution added: 'More than a decennary agone we invested to assistance physique the UK's archetypal bottle-to-bottle reprocessing plant.'

A spokesperson astatine Coca-Cola Great Britain said previously: 'We attraction astir the interaction of each portion we merchantability and we're moving to trim the magnitude of integrative packaging we use.

'We person an ambitious extremity to cod and recycle a vessel oregon tin for each 1 we merchantability by 2030.

'In addition, we enactment well-designed Deposit Return Schemes crossed Europe which we cognize tin assistance america get our packaging back.'