For years, companies making misleading environmental claims faced little more than bad press. A campaign group would raise the alarm, a brand would issue a careful non-apology, and the cycle would begin again. In 2025, that changed. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 came fully into force on 6 April 2025, giving the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) the power to impose fines of up to 10% of a company's global annual turnover for misleading environme

October 2025 saw the 13th annual Great Global Nurdle Hunt, a citizen science project with over 1,500 volunteers in 25 countries searching their shorelines for nurdles. Nurdles are the pre-production building blocks of most plastic products. They’re lentil-shaped microplastic pellets, ~2-3mm in diameter, which are melted down in plastic production. Unfortunately, nurdles have found their way into every corner of the world, with this year's hunt reporting that 92% of participat

Coca-Cola has heavily promoted recycling as a solution to the problem of plastic pollution and environmental harm. This has unfairly shifted the burden of responsibility for plastic pollution onto consumers. Coca-Cola can continue to produce large quantities of cheap plastic bottles without any accountability, whilst the public takes the blame for litter. Recycling is a false solution to the plastic problem. Only 9% of plastic has ever been recycled. Many plastics can’t be re

While clothes made of recycled plastic may sound like a good idea, they can cause environmental harm at multiple levels. First, recycled polyester used to produce textiles comes mostly from plastic bottles rather than from textile waste. This means that recyclable plastic bottles get downcycled into clothes, which cannot be further recycled and instead end in landfill or incinerators. The second problem is the greenwashing of plastic-made garments by the fashion industry. Cur

Plastic pollution fuels the climate crisis and social injustices, while also threatening human health and biodiversity. Tiny plastic particles, from micro to nanoscale, are found everywhere from oceans to human organs. Meanwhile, the production and disposal of larger plastics generate massive greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists warn that plastic production could triple by 2050, worsening waste, environmental toxicity, and climate impacts. Governments and communities all arou

Many corporations engage in ‘greenwashing’ tactics. Greenwashing involves marketing products to appear more environmentally friendly than they really are. Profit-driven corporations are aware that many consumers care about the environment and want eco-friendly products. To appeal to these consumers, they use terms such as ‘carbon-neutral’, ‘organic’, ‘farm-fresh’, ‘biodegradable’ and ‘sustainable’. They may also use circular or green imagery on their packaging and promotional

The Coca-Cola Company is a multinational beverage corporation. In 2022, Coca-Cola produced 134 billion single-use plastic bottles and were responsible for around one in five of the world’s PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) plastic bottles. It is the top plastic producing company in the world, with a plastic footprint of 3.45 million tonnes, estimated to increase to 4.13 tons by 2030. Since 2018, Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) member organizations and supporters have contribut

For a long time, the fossil fuel industry has been pushing the narrative that it is the fault of consumers that there is so much plastic pollution. They have said that the public is not recycling enough. They blame developing countries for the pollution that ends up in the sea. With the fall in revenue from fossil energy, the industry ramped up plastic production to mitigate its losses and focused on single use products to maximise turnover. They turned a blind eye to wha

Plastic pollutes our land and our oceans, disturbing wildlife and ecosystems. Microplastics have been found throughout the human body and have unknown health effects. Almost all plastics are produced from chemicals sourced from fossil fuels, with production contributing to climate change. Worryingly, plastic production is growing exponentially, approximately doubling every decade. Much of this is single-use plastic. Corporate Responsibility Profit-driven corporations are lar

The average European drinks 118 litres of bottled water each year, 97% of which are in plastic bottles, a well-recognised source of...

Companies are claiming to be ‘plastic neutral’ by using ‘plastic credits’ to offset the plastic pollution they create. This model follows...

‘The Fraud of Plastic Recycling’ reveals plastic producers have known for decades that plastic recycling is not a real solution.

With carbon capture technologies increasingly touted by global leaders, we are placing undue faith in technology that cannot save us?...

The ugly truth of the plastics industry and the false solution of plastic recycling.

Voluntary carbon offsetting has exploded into an industry worth more than $2bn per year and may grow to $40bn per year by 2030. But does...

One might think that Coca-Cola’s slogan 'A World without Waste' represents a truly green company trying hard to cut pollution,...

Coal, oil and natural gas: we all learn about these three types of fossil fuels in school. But are we really educated on how they are...

INEOS is a chemical giant, in the top 5 of the world’s largest chemical producers. It relies on fracking to produce ethylene and other...

Every plastic product we use is made of small 5mm plastic pellets (the size of a lentil) called nurdles, which are melted and moulded...

Sachets are small, single-use sealed plastic pouches that contain one portion of a product. The developing world has seen an explosion of...