Five of the biggest plastic polluters, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Unilever and Procter & Gamble, have been called out by over 400 organisations across the world including Greenpeace, Friends of Earth and Single Use Alternatives to do more to tackle plastic pollution on World Refill Day.
In an open letter, the organisation’s have demanded the FMCG giants to tackle their plastic pollution impact by switching from single-use to affordable and accessible refillable and reusable packaging.
The letter also includes signatures calling on the CEOs of the ‘worlds top five plastic polluters’ to address the environmental, social and health impacts that their plastic use is having on communities.
The move follows an exclusive poll for World Refill Day by City to Sea found that 91% of Brits are already taking steps to reduce their single-use plastic.
Some 41% said they would like to do more.
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The findings echo the core demands of the open letter with 64% saying they do not think that big brands are doing enough to address plastic pollution, with 65% saying they don’t think supermarkets or brands are doing enough to provide affordable refillable or packaging-free options to customers.
“It’s great to see over 400 organisations join our call and this movement of global partners on World Refill Day to demand change,” the CEO and Founder of City to Sea, the campaigning organisation behind World Refill Day, Natalie Fée said
“Our polling shows clearly that Brits want to shop with less plastic and they clearly think big brands need to be doing more.”
Fée added: “All across Britain families are struggling to balance wanting to make sustainable choices with trying to get make ends meet. And while we do what we can, like signposting people to free drinking water through our Refill app, we need business and government to take the lead here.
“Refillable packaging is the solution to plastic pollution, but we need to make sure this is delivered at pace in a way that is affordable and accessible for all.”
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