A new study on plastic waste has named Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé and Danone as the biggest sources of plastic pollution in the world. An environmental group called Break Free From Plastic did the study. They looked at 84 countries to see where the plastic rubbish came from.
Between 2018 and 2022, more than 100,000 volunteers collected plastic waste from beaches, parks, rivers, and other sites. They gathered more than 1.8 million pieces of plastic rubbish. Much of the waste was single-use food and drink containers (容器). In other words, cups, glasses and containers are only used once and then thrown away in the garbage.
Then researchers examined every piece, looking for logos and information that would identify what companies had created or sold the plastic items. They were able to identify brands for 910,000 pieces of plastic — about half of all the waste they collected. More than 100,000 of those pieces (11 percent) came from Coca-Cola products. PepsiCo was responsible for more than 45,000 pieces (5 percent), and Nestlé and Danone were each responsible for more than 27,000 pieces. Altogether, 56 companies were found to be responsible for the plastic waste that could be identified.
▲ Animals, birds and fish can eat or become tangled (缠绕) in pieces of thrown-away plastic. Microplastics (微型塑料) might enter our body through food and water. Plastic also makes global warming worse, because fossil fuels have been used to make plastics. More than 400 million metric tons of plastic are produced every year. Half of that will end up as rubbish in less than a year.
In late April, members of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee — a special United Nations committee on the environment — met in Ottawa to discuss ways to end plastic pollution.
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