Bottled drink firms' green claims mislead - Europe consumer groups

Bottled water producers such as Coca-Cola, Danone and Nestle are making misleading claims about the green credentials of their plastic packaging, 13 European consumer groups and umbrella federation BEUC said on Tuesday.

Bottled water producers such as Coca-Cola, Danone and Nestle are making misleading claims about the green credentials of their plastic packaging, 13 European consumer groups and umbrella federation BEUC said on Tuesday. They have filed a complaint to the European Commission and a network of consumer protection authorities (CPC) calling for an investigation and urging an end to claims such as "100% recyclable" or "100% recycled" that they say mislead consumers.

BEUC, which has 45 members, said the average European consumer drinks 118 litres of bottled water per year, 97% of this in plastic containers. Beverage bottles are one of the top sources of plastic pollution on European beaches, it said.

BEUC, along with consumer groups from France to Bulgaria, said they had identified three areas of concern. The term "100% recyclable", they said, was ambiguous and depended on the effectiveness of local sorting and processing. For PET beverage bottles, the recycling rate is 55% in the EU and the chance of it becoming a bottle again about 30%.

The term "100% recycled" ignored the fact that bottle lids are not made of recycled materials and labels are rarely made from them either. Adding virgin plastic to the bottle body was also a common practice. Imagery such as green logos or of nature gave the impression that bottles were positive for the environment, the groups said.

Coca-Cola Great Britain said it was working to reduce plastic packaging and had a goal of collecting and recycling a bottle or can for each one it sells, and to have 25% of global volumes in refillable or returnable containers. "We only communicate messages on our packaging that can be substantiated, with any relevant qualifications clearly displayed to enable consumers to make informed choices," a spokesperson said.

Danone said it would continue to invest and push for better collection and recycling infrastructure. "We have also made real progress on our journey to reducing single-use plastic and virgin plastic in parallel (-10% in absolute since 2018)," a spokesperson said.

Nestle and the European Commission had no immediate comment.