Search

Los Angeles County Sues PepsiCo and Coca-Cola Over Plastic Pollution, Recycling Deception

We are an online community created around a smart and easy to access information hub which is focused on providing proven global and local insights about sustainability

07 Nov, 2024

This post was originally published on Eco Watch

Los Angeles County filed a lawsuit against PepsiCo and Coca-Cola on October 30, arguing that the companies misled the public on product recyclability and the impact of plastic pollution on the environment.

According to the lawsuit, as documented by Reuters, the county is filing a suit for public nuisance and violations of unfair competition law and false advertising law and is seeking injunctive relief, restitution, abatement and civil penalties.

In the lawsuit, the county argues that PepsiCo and Coca-Cola were intentionally misleading about the recyclability of plastic beverage containers, and the lawsuit alleges that the companies knew that the plastic beverage containers could not be thrown out or recycled without impacting the environment. The county also noted that making, throwing out and recycling plastic all still contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and negatively impact the environment.

“Los Angeles County is committed to reducing the use of plastic and protecting the environment,” Los Angeles County Board Chair Lindsey Horvath said in a statement. “Coke and Pepsi need to stop the deception and take responsibility for the plastic pollution problems your products are causing. Los Angeles County will continue to address the serious environmental impacts caused by companies engaging in misleading and unfair business practices.”

According to Break Free From Plastic’s 2023 Global Brand Audit, which was released in February 2024, Coca-Cola is the top plastic polluter globally, a position it has held for six consecutive years based on the audit. 

Other top polluters in the report include Nestlé, Unilever, PepsiCo, Mondelēz International, Mars, Inc., Procter & Gamble, Danone, Altria and British American Tobacco. As The Associated Press reported, Coca-Cola produces an estimated 3.224 million metric tons of plastic each year, and PepsiCo produces around 2.5 million metric tons of plastic per year.

The lawsuit also stated that these two companies are some of the world’s top plastic polluters and alleges their plastic bottles have littered the county, accumulating on land and in waterways to threaten wildlife and public health and costing the county resources to clean up the mess. According to the lawsuit, plastic is also the top type of litter on land in the state and makes up most of the list of top 10 littered products on beaches in the state.

Los Angeles County highlighted circularity claims by PepsiCo and Coca-Cola and argued that these claims were deceptive to consumers.

“However, in reality, plastic bottles can only be recycled once, if at all, making promises of a ‘circular economy’ impossible,” the lawsuit stated. “Moreover, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola have pushed forward purported solutions, like chemical recycling, that they know, or should know, will not solve the problem. PepsiCo and Coca-Cola have also made false promises that they would increase the use of recycled plastic by certain percentages and eliminate the use of virgin plastic.”

PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are part of the American Beverage Association, which responded denying the lawsuit’s claims over plastic recycling labels and highlighting a 71% bottle recycling rate in 2023, The Associated Press reported.

In 2023, the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) reported to authorities over misleading recyclability claims by multiple companies, including Coca-Cola. That complaint argued that labels with details such as “100% recyclable” or “100% recycled” were vague or false.

“The reality is single use plastic is neither circular nor sustainable. Recycling can never catch up with the sheer volume of plastic produced on our planet,” Rosa Pritchard, plastics lawyer at ClientEarth, said of the BEUC legal complaint. “Companies are in a unique position to change how we consume but currently these claims — which we consider to be misleading — are making it hard for consumers to make good environmental choices.”

The post Los Angeles County Sues PepsiCo and Coca-Cola Over Plastic Pollution, Recycling Deception appeared first on EcoWatch.

Pass over the stars to rate this post. Your opinion is always welcome.
[Total: 0 Average: 0]

You may also like…

Insurance sector digs into impact of mandatory climate reporting

Insurance sector digs into impact of mandatory climate reporting

Businesses are being encouraged to prepare for the impact of mandatory climate disclosure in Australia.

Earlier this year, the federal government passed amendments to the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth), resulting in mandatory climate reporting for larger businesses in Australia.

The issue was examined during a recent address to members of the Underwriting Agencies Council, with particular attention paid to how the new legislation will affect the insurance sector.

Speaking at the event, Prateek Vijayvergia, Xceedance Business Leader – Key Accounts, Australia and New Zealand, said that while 75% of ASX 200 companies were committed to or already performing climate reporting, the number fell to 10.5% for broader ASX companies.

“There’s a lot more awareness and commitment and urgency that we see in the Australian market now and this is not limited only to the insurance business, but for all larger Australian businesses,” he said.

“Although this is all good, there is a gap in climate-related reporting among ASX-listed entities, and the depth and the quantification.”

Joining Vijayvergia in the discussion was Sharanjit Paddam, Principal – Climate Analytics at Finity Consulting, who said that from 31 December 2025, in addition to an Annual Report, large companies will need to submit a Sustainability Report — what Paddam referred to as “the home for ESG disclosures”.

Four pillars underpin the disclosure standards — governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets. Paddam emphasised that the devil is in the detail.

“You not only have to disclose the financial impacts on your balance sheet today and your income statement today, but also in the short-, medium- and long-term future,” he said.

“They (ASIC and APRA) want hard numbers to be put in the accounts about how climate change is financially going to affect the operations of the company.”

Paddam explained: “At the heart of the disclosure is really what are the financial impacts of climate change on your company, investors, customers and shareholders; to understand that and to allocate capital and make investment decisions informed by how climate change might affect your business.”

Paddam added that companies need to consider their own impact on climate change.

“The world is changing in disclosures in a very big way over the next few years, and companies are going to have to think about not just accounting for their financial outcomes, but also their climate outcomes,” he said.

“These are mandatory standards — this is locked in, and it will be required to happen over the next few years, and it is intended that these standards will change the economy and they will drive changes throughout the way we do business.”

A particular challenge will be the reporting of Scope 3 emissions — those indirectly generated by the activities of an organisation — due to lack of data, methodology and resources.

“What’s really helping all of us is the advancement in technology so there are better ways of collecting information and data around emissions,” Vijayvergia said.

“And also, to then slice and dice that information so it can be used to make a plan around climate risk.

“It’s becoming more comprehensive and almost integral to the overall reporting that’s happening for an organisation.”

Organisations impacted by these legislative changes include those that produce accounts under the Corporations Act and meet any two of the following criteria: consolidated assets more than $25m; consolidated revenue more than $50m; or 100 or more employees.

Paddam said the new requirements would capture some of the larger underwriting agencies and brokers.

“It’s an opportunity to look at the services that you are providing and how good a partner you are for your insurance provider, or as a distributor of insurance products, to see where you could uplift your services in this respect,” he advised.

“The things we insure, the things we invest in, are all intended to change as a result of these disclosures, and getting your heads around that quicker and faster than your competition is very important.”

Image credit: iStock.com/pcess609

World Water Film Festival Opens in New York, Aims to Inspire

World Water Film Festival Opens in New York, Aims to Inspire

Right now across the U.S., drought persists, particularly in the northeast, where wildfires are burning because of the dry conditions. At the same time, some communities are still recovering from the catastrophic effects of hurricane season and the wind and water mash-up they wrought. In either case, water – both as a source of life […]
The post World Water Film Festival Opens in New York, Aims to Inspire appeared first on EcoWatch.

Accessible Data Makes Renewable Energy Projects Possible Worldwide

Accessible Data Makes Renewable Energy Projects Possible Worldwide

Accessible Data Makes Renewable Energy Projects Possible Worldwide
jschoshinski
Thu, 11/14/2024 – 18:52

High fidelity, publicly available data is essential for mobilizing clean energy investment and informing renewable energy policy and deployment decisions, but access to this data is a critical barrier for many countries aiming to develop and optimize their clean energy resources. Recognizing the importance of tools that offer accessible data to inform renewable energy planning and deployment, the USAID-National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Partnership developed the Renewable Energy (RE) Data Explorer. RE Data Explorer is a publicly available geospatial analysis tool that provides free global renewable energy resource data to inform policy, investment, and deployment decisions for solar, wind, and other energy resources. 
Two of the thematic days at COP29 are focused on energy and science, technology, innovation, and digitalization. RE Data Explorer is a great example of how digital technologies can play a role in promoting clean energy and addressing the climate crisis. The tool also delivers on the commitment USAID made at COP28 to make investments that will “support technical assistance programs and partnerships to strengthen subnational climate preparedness.”
The use of USAID-NREL public data in Tanzania, available on RE Data Explorer, offers a direct example of the impact of accessible data on the implementation of renewable energy projects. Tanzania is working to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy and decarbonize its grid, aiming for 30-35 percent emissions reduction by 2030. A major challenge to pursuing this goal is the lack of reliable, long-term renewable energy resource data for project planning.
NextGen Solar, a private sector partner of USAID Power Africa, used USAID-NREL data specific to Tanzania to support the development of its renewable energy projects in the country. The company, which specializes in building and operating utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants in sub-Saharan Africa and small island nations, utilized USAID-NREL public data to develop the world’s largest PV-hybrid solar mini grid in rural Kigoma, Tanzania. USAID-NREL public data enabled NextGen Solar to perform technical feasibility studies to forecast electricity generation in an area previously lacking reliable, affordable power. Thanks to this reliable data and analysis, NextGen Solar was able to mobilize $6 million in investment to build the plant. This 5-megawatt (MW) plant has now been in commercial operation for over 3.5 years and supplies electricity to over 65,000 homes, the region’s largest hospital, and three schools. It has also helped the Government of Tanzania save an estimated $2.2 million annually while reducing carbon emissions and demonstrating the viability of utility-scale solar power to sub-Saharan Africa.
The application of USAID-NREL public data in Ukraine is  another example of how open data can drive the mobilization of clean energy projects. Planners and developers in Ukraine are looking to incorporate more renewable energy, particularly wind and solar, as the country rebuilds its grid and searches for new means to become less dependent on foreign resources. Like Tanzania, a barrier for Ukraine was the lack of accessible, high-quality data on its wind and solar output capabilities. USAID-NREL is helping Ukraine overcome this barrier through new high-resolution solar time series data accessible on RE Data Explorer, which will help Ukraine meet the needs of stakeholders in the energy sector across the national government, academia, and private industry.
“[USAID-NREL public data] really helps with planning and understanding where the resources are—where it is most cost effective to build distributed resources that will help to decentralize the grid.”
NREL’s Ukraine program lead, Ilya Chernyakhovskiy

To better understand the broad impact of RE Data Explorer, a 2024 NREL survey gathered insights from respondents on how they applied this data in real-world scenarios. Overall, respondents reported evaluating and planning over 111,000 MWs of solar and wind projects, with a potential investment of over $6.5 billion. End-users also reported over 1,600 MWs of solar and wind energy with over $1 billion  in investment that has been approved and financed. For context, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), 1,600 MWs would power approximately 275,200 average U.S. homes and 111,000 MWs would power approximately 19.1 million.
One particular real-world example provided by the survey came from a respondent from climate tech startup Ureca who shared that their company pursued a .3MW solar project in Mongolia that was approved and financed. Ureca’s project “focuses on small PV systems for households in Mongolia that currently use raw coal for heating.” This initiative, called Coal-to-Solar, is now helping low-income families transition from coal to renewable energy in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia—the coldest capital in the world—as part of a Just Energy Transition pilot aimed at reducing reliance on coal.
The outcomes of these projects also highlight how USAID and NREL are working together to implement USAID’s 2022-2030 Climate Strategy. In accordance with the plan’s strategic objective, “Targeted Direct Action: Accelerate and scale targeted climate actions,” projects informed by USAID-NREL public data in Tanzania, Ukraine, and Mongolia employed context-sensitive approaches to “support climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts in critical geographies, [and] mobilize increased finance.” Furthermore, USAID and NREL’s work focused on accessible data supported Intermediate Result 1.1 in the plan, which aims to “catalyze urgent mitigation (emissions reductions and sequestration) from energy, land use, and other key sources.” 
From accelerating Tanzania’s clean energy transition, to aiding Ukraine’s rebuilding efforts, to enabling clean energy projects across the world, USAID-NREL public data is helping users and local communities reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote sustainable development, and pave the way for a cleaner, more resilient future. 
For more information about RE Data Explorer, watch this video. To learn more about how high-resolution solar data is enabling energy expansion across two continents, read this NREL article.

Teaser Text
USAID-NREL’s RE Data Explorer is a great example of how digital technologies can play a role in promoting clean energy and addressing the climate crisis.

Publish Date
Thu, 11/14/2024 – 12:00

Author(s)

Emily Kolm

Hero Image
South View of Solar Plant.jpg

Blog Type
Blog Post

Strategic Objective

Mitigation

Region

Global

Topic

Emissions
Low Emission Development
Climate Policy
Climate Strategy
Climate Strategy Implementation
Digital technology
Energy
Clean or Renewable Energy
Grid Integration
Geospatial
Locally-Led Development
Mitigation
Partnership
Rural

Country

Tanzania
Ukraine

Sectors

Energy

Projects

USAID-NREL Partnership

Show Download Link
Off

0 Comments