Coca Cola HBC AG (LSE:CCH), Nestle S.A. (OTC:NSRGF, VTX:NESN) and Danone (OTCQX:DANOY) have been accused of making “misleading” claims about the recyclability of plastic bottles.
Environmental and consumer rights organisations have filed a complaint against the drinks giants for using the term ‘100%’ recycled on plastic water bottles sold in Europe, claiming that it is misleading.
EU consumer protection organisation Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs (BEUC), backed by the Environmental Coalition on Standards and non-profit organisation ClientEarth, issued an external alert to the European Commission and Consumer Protection Cooperation Network against the companies for suspected infringement of consumer protection law.
They argue that the claims commonly found on plastic water bottles imply there is a circular loop to the bottle recycling economy.
Instead, they said “there is no such thing as truly circular plastic” and that recycling cannot solve the escalating plastics crisis, as the process degrades the properties of plastic.
Only 9% of all the plastic ever produced has been recycled and plastic production is expected to triple by 2060.
Lawyers have called for drinks companies to stop using misleading claims on bottles and to move away from harmful single-use plastic, saying a better environmental choice would be to use a refillable water bottle.
They say the recyclability of a plastic water bottle depends on local infrastructure and that recycling alone will not be able to address the scale of the plastic pollution crisis.
In the EU, plastic bottle recycling is about 50%, with only 30% of these used to make new bottles, and the remainder used in textiles that are not recyclable and therefore likely to end up in landfill or incinerated.
Lids and labels are not typically made from recycled plastic and are unlikely to be effectively recycled.
Rosa Pritchard, Plastics Lawyer at ClientEarth, said: “The evidence is clear – plastic water bottles are simply not recycled again and again to become new bottles in Europe. A ‘100%’ recycling rate for bottles is technically not possible and, just because bottles are made with recycled plastic, does not mean they don’t harm people and planet.”