Revealed: The 5 popular brands responsible for the most plastic pollution in the world – so, is YOUR favourite on the list?

Many of us are doing our best to reduce our plastic consumption.

But despite our efforts, the figures suggest that as much as 220 million tonnes of plastic waste will be produced this year.

Now a study has revealed which popular brands are responsible for the vast majority of the world’s plastic pollution from branded products.

The Coca-Cola Company tops the list as the number one polluter, responsible for 11 percent of all branded waste, according to researchers at Dalhousie University.

“These global plastic pollution data speak for themselves and show unequivocally that the world’s largest global producers are the biggest plastic polluters,” said Dr. Tony Walker, co-author of the study.

Many of us are doing our best to reduce our plastic consumption. But despite our efforts, the figures suggest that as much as 220 million tonnes of plastic waste will be produced this year.

In their study, the researchers wanted to understand whether or not there is a link between plastic production and plastic pollution.

The team analyzed five years of data from 1,576 audit events in 84 countries.

These brand audits are citizen science initiatives, where volunteers conduct waste cleanups and document the brands collected.

Their analysis found that there is a ‘clear link’ between plastic production and pollution.

In fact, they found that a one percent increase in plastic production resulted in a one percent increase in pollution.

When it comes to specific brands, the researchers found that 56 global companies are responsible for more than 50 percent of all plastic pollution from brands.

The top five manufacturers were The Coca-Cola Company (11 percent), PepsiCo (five percent), Nestle (three percent), Danone (three percent) and Altria/Philip Morris International (two percent).

However, more than half of the plastic items recovered were unbranded, making it difficult to trace the companies responsible.

The team analyzed five years of data from 1,576 audit events in 84 countries. These brand audits are citizen science initiatives, where volunteers conduct waste cleanups and document the brands collected

To prevent this problem in the future, the researchers propose creating an international, open-access database in which companies are required to track and report their products, packaging and brands to the environment.

Overall, the researchers say the key to reducing plastic pollution is reducing the production of single-use plastic goods.

“When I first saw the relationship between production and pollution, I was shocked,” says Win Cowger of the Moore Institute for Plastic Pollution Research.

‘Despite all the things big brands say they are doing, we see no positive impact from their efforts.

“But on the other hand, it gives me hope that reducing plastic production by fast-moving consumer goods companies will have a strong positive impact on the environment.”

MailOnline has contacted PepsiCo, Danone and Altria/Philip Morris International for comment.

A spokesperson for Coca-Cola Great Britain said: ‘We care about the impact of every drink we sell and we are working to reduce the amount of plastic packaging we use.

‘We have an ambitious target to collect and recycle a bottle or can for every bottle we sell by 2030.

‘We also support well-designed deposit return schemes across Europe that we know can help us get our packaging back.’

A Nestle spokesperson added: ‘Plastic pollution is a serious problem and we are working hard to tackle it.

‘We have reduced our new (virgin) plastic use by 14.9% over the past five years.

‘At Nestlé we have more than 220 initiatives to develop well-functioning waste collection, sorting and recycling programs in Europe, Africa, Asia, North America and Latin America.

‘We will continue this work to keep packaging materials in the circular economy and out of the environment.’