Since switching to disposable plastic packaging, the company has been contributing one-third of the plastic bottle waste in the island country.
May 12, 2025 — Today, 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, on March 12, raising concerns over the company’s packaging practices in Samoa, after 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.”
#Break Free From Plastic members react to the UN Special Rapporteur’s letter:
Rufino Varea, Director at Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN), said:
"The UN Special Rapporteur's findings on Coca-Cola in Samoa are a glaring example of how corporate decisions made in distant boardrooms unleash environmental havoc on Pacific frontlines. This isn't just waste; it's an assault on our ecosystems, our health, and our fundamental right to a clean environment, deepening the polycrisis we already face.”
Matt Littlejohn, Senior Vice President at OCEANA, said:
“This is a crisis that doesn’t need to happen. Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) is selling large amounts of reusables in the Philippines and is investing hundreds of millions of euros in its reusable operations elsewhere. CCEP can and should bring reuse back to Samoa. Plus, as Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey recently stated at the company’s annual meeting, reuse is ‘vital to our revenue growth management strategy.’ Bringing back reuse is not just good for the people and environment of Samoa, it’s also good for business.”
John Hocevar, Oceans Campaign Director at Greenpeace USA, said:
“Year after year, Coke floods the world with more plastic waste, with huge consequences for human health, environmental justice, and biodiversity. It is unconscionable for the company to burden Samoa, a small island state without the infrastructure to manage this toxic waste, with these problems. Better alternatives exist, and Coke’s elimination of its reuse system in favor of the proven failure of plastic recycling is a clear choice to put corporate greed ahead of environmental responsibility and human well-being. Coke's leadership seems to believe that if they keep putting up billboards about recycling, no one will notice that their plastic footprint keeps growing while they continue to abandon their goals and commitments. At a time when the whole world is working together to solve the plastic crisis, Coke is moving backwards.”
Emma Priestland, Corporate Coordinator at Break Free From Plastic, said:
“Break Free From Plastic’s Brand Audit found Coca-Cola to be the world’s biggest plastic polluter for the first time back in 2018, and every year since. They cannot plead ignorance over the fate of their plastic bottles. Choosing to dismantle a long-standing functional reusable glass bottle system in favour of plastic is an act of harm against the people of Samoa. There can be no excuse for this. Coca-Cola markets itself using the slogan ‘a world without waste’ while simultaneously choosing to massively increase waste in a Small Island Developing State already dealing with serious waste challenges. The hypocrisy is staggering.”
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Note to the editors:
- A Copy of the UN Special Rapporteur’s letter was sent to The Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. On May 6th, a was response was issued.
- A copy of the letter to Coca-Cola was also sent to the Government of Samoa.
- Photo available here.
- Break Free From Plastic Brand Audit is a participatory science initiative that involves counting and documenting the brands found on plastic waste to help identify the corporations responsible for plastic pollution. Since 2018, The Coca-Cola Company has been identified as the World’s Top Polluter.
- Coca-cola dropping its global reusable targets on December 2024.
- Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN) full statement on UN Special Rapporteur’s findings available here.
Press Contacts:
- Caro Gonzalez: caro@breakfreefromplastic.org / news@breakfreefromplastic.org
- Eah Antonio: eah@breakfreefromplastic.org | +63 927 827 7960
About Break Free From Plastic – #BreakFreeFromPlastic is a global movement envisioning a future free from plastic pollution. Since its launch in 2016, more than 3,500 organizations representing millions of individual supporters around the world, have joined the movement to demand massive reductions in single-use plastics and push for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis. BFFP member organizations and individuals share the values of environmental protection and social justice, and work together through a holistic approach to bring about systemic change. This means tackling plastic pollution across the whole plastics value chain—from extraction to disposal—focusing on prevention rather than cure and providing effective solutions. www.breakfreefromplastic.org
