Drinks giants asked to cut plastic use but solutions look far off

Describing plastic pollution as "a significant threat to nature" and a "risk to human health," 102 athletes, among them Olympic medallists, have published a letter asking Coca-Cola and Pepsi to use less plastic.

"The world needs more reusable packaging and less single-use plastic that pollutes our planet," wrote the signatories, 22 of whom are due to compete at the upcoming Paris games.

But replacing fossil fuels-based plastic with greener alternatives will not be easy or cheap, Dutch bank ING has warned.

"Fossil-free bio-based plastics can cost one and a half times as much, while plastics from green hydrogen can be up to four times more expensive," ING analysts explained in a recently-published report.

The bank's team said subsidies and mandatory production targets are needed for any such transition to happen, while industries would have to be "willing to pay more for green plastics" and accept taxes being levied on plastics made using gas and oil.

Not only that, they said, but hydrogen-based plastics would need to be "almost entirely produced with carbon-free electricity, such as nuclear power or renewable power from solar panels, wind turbines and hydropower plants," for them to "contribute significantly to emissions reduction."

"Regrettably, achieving cost competitiveness for fossil-free methanol-based plastics – derived from biomass or green hydrogen – with conventional fossil-based plastics is a challenging task," ING warned.

Plastic pollution, much of it caused by discarding single-use items such as bottles and containers, is increasing.

"Total EU exports to non-OECD countries rose to 73 million kg/month in March 2024 from 66 million kg/month in March 2023," campaign group Basel Action Network said in June.

Careless disposal of part-plastic gadgets such as computers, phones and vapes is adding to the problem: around 62 million tonnes of old or unwanted items were thrown out in 2023, an 80% increase in five years, according to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

Scientists and doctors have warned in several recently published research papers of plastic particles getting into human organs and blood or leaching via sweat, with so-called nanoplastics shown to have been passed from mothers to unborn babies and to have found their way into male genitalia.

"Plastic has been found in our hearts, lungs, and brains, and in our blood and placentas," the athletes said in their letter to Cola-Cola and Pepsi.