The Coca‑Cola Company eliminated its goals around reusable packaging and virgin plastic reduction. | StudioPortoSabbia/Shutterstock
The Coca‑Cola Company has rolled back its voluntary sustainability goals, decreasing some and eliminating others, following the growing number of big brands announcing they will not meet often-ambitious 2025 or 2030 targets.
Amy Uong, second from right, speaks during ‘Saying Yes in the Land of No,’ a session held during the Resource Recycling Conference in Kentucky last month. | Dan Holtmeyer/Resource Recycling, Inc.
Faced with challenges moving recycled materials in recent years, MRFs and curbside recycling programs have occasionally opted to stop accepting certain materials, particularly experimental or harder-to-market packaging types.
The largest brand owners in the world together used an average of 14% post-consumer resin in their packaging last year, a 2 percentage point increase over 2022. | Photka/Shutterstock
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s 2023 report indicated a year-over-year decrease in both virgin and overall plastic use from signatory companies. That came from companies incorporating more post-consumer resin, combined with lower overall consumer demand due to economic challenges.
A judge ruled PepsiCo isn’t legally liable for the pollution its packaging can become, and that the responsibility rests solely with the person who improperly disposed of the product. | LuqmanLutfi Photography/Shutterstock
Under current New York law, PepsiCo can’t be held legally responsible for consumers improperly disposing of its packaging, a state supreme court judge has ruled. And now, a California court will test similar legal theories. Continue Reading
Amazon announced it has removed all plastic air pillows from delivery packaging at its global fulfillment centers, replacing them with paper filler. | Photo courtesy of Amazon
Online e-commerce giant Amazon released an update on its sustainability goals, announcing it has hit its goal of replacing plastic air pillows with paper filler throughout North America.
Bloomberg’s latest Circular Economy Company Ranking reported on corporate sustainability pledges, finding a theme of costs outweighing target progress. | Aykut Erdogdu/Shutterstock
A new report from Bloomberg’s market research division provides further evidence of brand owners struggling to meet stated recycled content goals due to a lack of available material and cost pressure.
The two companies will stop selling products in Minnesota for two and a half years, can re-enter the market only if bags are clearly marked as non-recyclable, and will pay more than $200,000.
Walmart and Reynolds Consumer Products have reached settlements with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office in a lawsuit over marketing language for bags labeled as “recycling bags.” Continue Reading
Swedish app Bower was selected for a six-month Google.org fellowship and $1.9 million in funding to further develop its recycling app. | Photo Courtesy of Bower
With the help of a Google program, Swedish recycling app Bower is expanding its AI-visioning model worldwide, aiming for a world without waste. Continue Reading
Amazon largely focused on its efforts to reduce plastic use, such as substituting recycled paper for flexible fillers and making packaging suitable for curbside collection. | Skorzewiak/Shutterstock
In its 2023 sustainability report, global retail powerhouse Amazon highlighted its efforts to reduce packaging materials and to make its packaging suitable for curbside collection but provided few details on PCR usage. Continue Reading
The Petaluma Reusable Cup Project is supported by the NextGen Consortium, Zero Waste Sonoma, Recology and more than 30 brands and restaurants. | Photo courtesy Closed Loop Partners
The NextGen Consortium is bringing together brands big and small to trial a city-wide reusable cup system in Petaluma, California. Continue Reading