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.”
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