BFFP Newsletter 🌍 📰 : Exxon's $14.25 million air pollution penalty, protests at Coca-Cola’s South African headquarters and more!

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Subject: BFFP Newsletter 🌍 📰 : Exxon's $14.25 million air pollution penalty, protests at Coca-Cola’s South African headquarters and more!

Latest News and Updates

July 2, 2025

US Supreme Court Rejects Exxon’s Appeal of $14.25 Million Air Pollution Penalty

By refusing to hear Exxon’s appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s ruling for the company to pay a $14.25 million civil penalty over air pollution at its crude oil refinery in Baytown, Texas.

The Exxon Baytown facility is the largest petroleum and petrochemical complex in the United States. Now, it is also responsible for the largest penalty ever assessed in a citizen-initiated lawsuit under the landmark Clean Air Act.

Learn more

Photo Credit: Greenpeace

Massive Protests at Coca-Cola’s South African Headquarters

Environmental advocates recently gathered outside Coca-Cola’s South African headquarters in Johannesburg to demand the beverage giant reduce its plastic output. At the demonstration, which was organized by Greenpeace on World Environment Day (June 5th), non-violent protesters displayed a massive bottle cap bearing the message “Cap It, Coke!”

Zero Waste Solutions from Latin America

#BreakFreeFromPlastic and GAIA co-hosted a webinar called “Zero Waste Solutions from Latin America” to present the different projects that our members are carrying out in the area of waste management, focusing especially on zero waste models and their positive impacts.

During the webinar: Mingas por el mar from Ecuador spoke about plastic-free food stores; the Lenga Foundation from Chile spoke about tourism and zero waste; the Tz'unum Ya' Collective from Guatemala spoke about possible actions in the face of environmental setbacks; and the Colectivo Ecologista Jalisco from Mexico spoke about the plastics agenda within the country's climate agenda.

Watch the webinar

Staffers with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources work to remove a plastic lid from the around neck of an immobilized black bear. (Michigan DNR)

Bear Finally Freed After Two Years with Plastic Lid Around Neck

A black bear in the U.S. State of Michigan was stuck with a plastic lid around its neck for two years!

Thankfully, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources was able to anesthetize the bear, remove the painful plastic collar, and release the bear back into the wild, where it is now free since the first time since it was a cub.

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Subject: BFFP Newsletter 🌍 📰 : Exxon's $14.25 million air pollution penalty, protests at Coca-Cola’s South African headquarters and more!