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While many of us are doing our best to reduce our plastic consumption, figures show that UK households collectively throw away nearly 100 billion pieces of plastic each year.
Now new data has revealed which ‘Dirty Dozen’ brands are responsible for the vast majority (70 per cent) of branded plastic and packaging pollution in the UK.
Researchers found that The Coca-Cola Company tops the list as the largest polluter of plastic and packaging in Britain, followed by McDonald’s and PepsiCo.
“The results of this year’s Brand Audit are shocking, but unfortunately not surprising,” said Izzy Ross, Campaigns Manager at Surfers Against Sewage.
“Year after year, we see the same culprits responsible for disgusting amounts of plastic pollution on our beaches, in our cities and in our countryside.”
New data has revealed which ‘Dirty Dozen’ brands are responsible for the vast majority (70 per cent) of branded plastic and packaging pollution in the UK
Surfers Against Sewage researchers found that Coca-Cola tops the list as the UK’s biggest plastic and packaging polluter, followed by McDonald’s and PepsiCo
For their analysis, the team enlisted the help of 4,240 volunteers, who picked up items from 500 beach, river, forest and street cleanups.
In total, the volunteers collected 30,745 individual items between June 6, 2022 and June 5, 2023.
An analysis of this mess revealed that 36 percent came from just 327 brands.
The Coca-Cola Company, which owns several popular brands, including Monster, Coca-Cola and Costa, topped the list as the top polluter, with 1,820 items collected.
This was followed by McDonald’s, which accounted for 1,220 items, and PepsiCo, whose brands included 7Up, Pepsi and Walkers accounted for 976 items.
Rounding out the ‘Dirty Dozen’ were Mondelez International (home to brands such as Cadbury, Maynard’s Bassetts, Philadelphia and Ritz), AB InBev (whose brands include Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois), Tesco, Haribo, Nestle, Mars, Heineken, Carlsberg and Red Bull.
“These Dirty Dozen from plastic-polluting companies need to clean up their behavior,” Ms Ross said.
“They need to be held accountable for their pollution and driven to do more to adopt circular business models to reduce their plastic and (by extension) their carbon footprint.
The Coca-Cola Company, which owns several popular brands including Monster, Coca-Cola and Costa, topped the list as the top polluter, with 1,820 items collected
PepsiCo, whose brands include 7Up, Pepsi and Walkers, made up 976 items collected by the volunteers
“These industry giants have the power to save or condemn our ocean. Now they choose the latter.’
Aside from branded items, fishing industry items were found to be a major source of plastic waste, with lines, nets and ropes making up 11 percent of items collected.
Other common items included cigarette butts and e-cigarettes, with 131 items in this category.
Based on the findings, Surfers Against Sewage is calling on companies to reduce their plastic packaging and take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their products.
In addition, the team suggests that an ‘all-in’ deposit scheme (DRS) for all drinks packaging could help reduce plastic pollution in Britain.
‘A deposit scheme is one of the most effective ways to reduce plastic pollution,’ said Ms Ross.
‘DRS programs have been shown to be very successful in other countries and there is no reason to believe that this would not be the case in the UK.
“Unfortunately, the government is still stalled on plans to introduce a DRS.
“In doing so, it condemns our ocean, beaches and rivers to an additional 8 billion pieces of plastic per year, as plastic gradually suffocates these fragile ecosystems.”
Speaking to MailOnline, a Coca-Cola spokesperson said: “It is clear that the world is facing a packaging waste problem, and we have a responsibility to help solve it.
“At Coca-Cola, we continue to work with our partners to encourage more recycling while actively supporting various initiatives to make litter a thing of the past.”
Aside from the branded items, items from the fishing industry were found to be a major source of plastic waste, with lines, nets and ropes making up 11 percent of items collected
In total, the volunteers collected 30,745 individual items between June 6, 2022 and June 5, 2023
A Nestle spokesperson added that the results were “not nice to see at all.”
“While the results are not a surprise to us, they are not fun to see at all and we are aware of the magnitude,” they told MailOnline.
“We make some of the most well-known food and drink brands in the world and many of them are packaged with plastic in the interest of safety, freshness and affordability.
“However, it is completely unacceptable that such packaging ends up in nature as litter, endangering wildlife and threatening ecosystems and the food chain.
“In the UK and Ireland, we will continue our efforts to ensure that by 2025 almost 100% of our packaging is designed for recycling, and we will continue to work to make all our packaging recyclable or reusable.”
A PepsiCo spokesperson said: “We recognize that litter on our beaches is a huge problem, and we know we have an important role to play in meeting this challenge,” while a McDonald’s spokesperson added: “As a company, we continue to make changes to our packaging to reduce plastic waste and have already taken a number of steps in this area.”
MailOnline has reached out to the other brands listed for comment.