PepsiCo was the top plastic polluter in India in 2022 followed by CG Foods India (a manufacturer of instant noodles and snacks) and Perfetti Van Melle, the creator of confectionaries like Mentos and Alpenliebe, according to the 2022 Brand Audit report by Break Free From Plastic, which spotlights plastic pollution throughout the globe.
Food packaging, home items, and other packaging materials were the most commonly encountered plastic products in India.
According to the report, single-serve sachets and flexible packaging are a worrying trend throughout Asia and Africa. Food, personal care, and home items are sold in sachets throughout Asia as part of a deliberate corporate strategy by plastic polluters to promote products in tiny quantities at cheap cost to appeal to customers in emerging nations.
Break Free From Plastic has examined the plastic catastrophe in India and throughout the world for the previous five years, from 2018 to 2022. Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) was India’s top polluter in 2021, followed by Tamil Nadu Co-operative Milk Producers’ Federation in 2020, SS Food Products (a bakery goods manufacturer) in 2019, and Perfetti Van Melle in 2018.
According to Break Free From Plastic, the Coca-Cola Company, which is also the official corporate sponsor of COP27 in Egypt, has been the world’s top plastic polluter for the fifth year in a row. In 2022, PepsiCo and Nestle were the leading worldwide pollutants.
Rather than enabling firms like Coca-Cola to green-wash their image, governments should compel polluters to invest in reuse and alternative product distribution systems that prevent the problem from occurring in the first place.
This article is based on Brand Audit 2022 Report; fake checked and edited by Clean-Future Team