WRAP’s delayed Recycle Week runs until Friday (21 October) under the theme ‘Let’s Get Real’, targeting contamination to improve recycling behaviours.
Brands sponsoring Recycle Week this year include Arla Foods, Biffa, British Soft Drinks Association, Coca-Cola, Danone, innocent drinks, McDonald’s, The Natural Source Waters Association, Britvic, PepsiCo and Ocado.
Plastics campaign group City to Sea has slammed Recycle Week as an exercise in “corporate greenwashing” due to the sponsorship of Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and McDonald’s (see letsrecycle.com story).
City to Sea says Coca-Cola has been the world’s single largest plastic polluter for four years in a row.
In response, a WRAP spokesperson told letsrecycle.com: “WRAP is very careful about who it works with, and who sponsors our activities, to avoid greenwashing.
“WRAP only works with businesses that can demonstrate that they are actively working to limit the environmental impact of their products and services.”
UK Plastics Pact
In a strongly worded statement, Steve Hynd, City to Sea’s policy manager, described having “the world’s biggest plastic polluters like Coca-Cola” as sponsors of Recycle Week as “nonsense”.
“This is greenwashing the dirties of business models, nothing more and nothing less,” Mr Hynd claimed.
However, the WRAP spokesperson said: “Coca-Cola is an active member of the UK Plastics Pact and has pledged to have at least 25% of all beverages sold in refillable containers, alongside increasing uptake of recycled content.
“At WRAP we believe we can only drive change by working with businesses and supporting them on their improvement journey.”
The UK Plastics Pact, which WRAP leads, brings together businesses from across the entire plastics value chain with UK governments and NGOs to tackle the “scourge” of plastic waste.
The spokesperson told letsrecycle.com that recycling was “only part” of the solution to the plastic waste crisis. “We also need to limit plastic where it makes sense. This is why removal, reduction, replacement and reuse and refill are all part of the UK Plastics Pact’s focus.”
Subscribe for free