Accompanied by a giant albatross sculpture made of reclaimed plastic bottles, Greenpeace has delivered a 100,000-strong petition to parliament calling on the Government to ban single-use plastic bottles and incentivise reusable and refillable alternatives.
Greenpeace Aotearoa plastics campaigner, Juressa Lee says “Companies like Coca-Cola sell a billion single-use plastic bottles in Aotearoa every year and they show no sign of stopping without Government action to make them stop.”
“This toroa sculpture here with me today was modeled off a young bird that died horribly of starvation after swallowing a whole plastic bottle.”
“Plastic pollution kills, it never goes away and it is everywhere. It’s in the food that we eat, the air that we breathe and even in our placentas. This is a crisis and we have to see stronger action from our Government, starting with a ban on single-use plastic bottles.”
“Clearly the people of Aotearoa want more action to eliminate plastic pollution. Over 100,000 people have signed this petition calling on the Government to ban on single-use plastic bottles and incentivise reusable and refillable alternatives. The alternatives exist, we’re just missing the political will from this Government to stand up to the likes of Coca-Cola and protect us from plastic pollution.”
“Tomorrow is the first day of Plastic Free July when people traditionally make an extra effort to reduce their use of plastic. But while those efforts are important, individual action alone can only ever make a small dent in the plastic pollution crisis. We have to see action from Government to get lasting change.
Globally it is estimated that only 9% of all the plastic waste ever produced has been recycled and production is by petrochemical companies projected to increase in the years to come. The amount of plastic waste produced globally is on track to almost triple by 2060, with around half ending up in landfills and less than a fifth recycled.The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo are ranked as the world’s top plastic polluters for the 4th consecutive year according to Break Free From Plastic, whose latest global Brand Audit report also charges the same leading plastic polluters for fueling the climate crisis.
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