After 2 years, Coca-Cola's promise to scale up reusable packaging is dead

"For six years running, Coca-Cola has been named the “top global plastic polluter,” based on beach cleanups coordinated by the nonprofit Break Free From Plastic."

It seems to me the solution to this is a no-brainer, that is to put a tax on plastics that are either not recycled or are not properly or adequately recycled. We tax other things because they cause harm, for example the excise tax on alcohol/spirits and cigarettes.

A further tax could be levied on companies that do not have what's deemed to be adequate recycling facilities available. A company would need to be certified as having an adequate recycling ability and be seen applying it or be taxed at a higher rate. This would seem preferable to levying fines on a company which would involve governments in a lot of administrative/legal work and drag out 'fixes' as legal cases drag on for years. Companies would soon comply as they would be at an economic disadvantage compared to those who did.

Further to taxes, add realistic return deposit schemes on plastic bottles, and where such schemes exist increase deposits until they are effective. Same goes for taxes, just increase them until they're effective/companies comply to the letter.

If people/governments are truly concerned with limiting plastic pollution and are intent on fixing the problem then it could be easily done in short order.

Pretty much all Coca Cola stuff were sold in such bottles, at least the bigger ones, like 1.5L+ (but not only Coca Cola, Pepsi and other products too. Notably beer bottles were also like that).

Fast forward to 2025, and they have stopped using these reusable bottles completely, and funnily they are even removing their promise about using them globally.

Sometimes it's a great time to be alive. Sometimes I feel that I'm the only sane person. (Or the only crazy one - depending on how you look at it)

I would love to have home restaurant-like dispenser, or a Soda Stream syrup but for obvious profit reasons they don't offer that.

This would reduce my plastic bottle consumption by 100% or about 30-60 large bottles per month (not even counting the shipping footprint of what is essentially is 99% water). Sure, there are generic syrups or even Pepsi Max syrups, but it's just not the same for me.

That's what happens when profits are put on top of cost for Earth as a whole.

Sure I probably could switch to something else but why should I make this effort?

The main issue is stigma, which is to say, reputation, which is to say politics and power. The catch is that the west could soon and suddenly be faced with MILLIONS of TONS per MONTH, of garbage, piling up everywhere, and the whole thing devolving into wars, to degrade undevoped countrys to the point, where they will "accept" the wests export of our contradictions. Coke is the ultimate example of marketing success, and cant do anything else, and I am quite sure that coke, would rather go bankrupt, than become a waste management company. So its best to ignore them, and the other producers of plastic packaging, and just deal with all garbage at scale.

> Coca-Cola now plans to make 30 to 35 percent of its plastic packaging out of recycled materials by 2035, instead of 50 percent by 2030. And instead of making 100 percent of its packaging recyclable by 2025 and collecting one bottle or can for each one sold, Coca-Cola now says it will “help ensure the collection” of just 70 to 75 percent of the number of bottles and cans it produces, also by 2035.