Subject: BFFP Newsletter 🌍 📰 : UN Special Rapporteur shares concerns over Coca-Cola’s packaging practices in Samoa, and other stories.

The Special Rapporteur exposes how the company’s switch to single-use packaging has been contributing one-third of the plastic bottle waste in Samoa.

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May 20, 2025

UN Special Rapporteur Shares Concerns Over Coca-Cola’s Packaging Practices in Samoa


On May 12, the UN Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights, Marcos Orellana, published a letter sent to Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, a UK partner of The Coca-Cola Company, raising concerns over the company’s packaging practices in Samoa. The letter was sent as a response to the company’s decision to switch from reusable glass bottles to disposable plastic bottles in 2021.


In the letter, the Special Rapporteur exposes how the company’s switch to single-use packaging has been contributing one-third of the plastic bottle waste in Samoa. Given the limited recycling infrastructure on the island, most of the plastic waste ends up being littered, illegally dumped, incinerated, or landfilled, “jeopardizing the enjoyment of a broad range of human rights in a country already exposed to the disproportionate impacts of the environmental crisis.”


The Denka Performance Elastomer plant in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, U.S

Denka Petrochemical Plant Suspends Production in “Cancer Alley” Louisiana, U.S.

The Denka Performance Elastomer plant – a huge petrochemical facility with an awful track record of toxic air pollution in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, U.S. – announced that it has indefinitely suspended all production due to dire financial challenges.


In addition to “market demand” losses cited by the Japanese chemicals company, Denka also faced a new rule governing emissions on chloroprene (a likely human carcinogen, which is the Louisiana plant’s primary pollutant) that was issued by the Biden Administration after months of public pressure by environmental justice leaders in the region.


This is great news for human health and for the planet, especially for the local community that has suffered disproportionate harm in a region already known as “Cancer Alley”!


Discover the Reuse Economy in Europe with #WeChooseReuse

#WeChooseReuse is back and bolder than ever! Originally developed as a campaign to push for support for strong packaging laws at the EU level, #WeChooseReuse has evolved. Now with a renewed focus, the campaign is zooming out to focus on the broader reuse economy in Europe - not just packaging, but also textiles and electronics. It's all about keeping resources in use for longer to reduce waste and resource consumption.

Explore the new vision and get inspired on the new #WeChooseReuse website.


GAIA/BFFP Africa members join the World Bank and AfDB ESF Validation Workshop

Young Volunteers for the Environment (YVE) Gambia was honoured to participate in the Joint World Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB) Validation Workshop for the Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) Overview Assessment Report of The Gambia. The event brought together key stakeholders to evaluate The Gambia’s alignment with international environmental and social standards.


YVE Gambia unpacks the significance of this engagement and highlights the emphasis on the role of youth and local commu


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