Coca-Cola’s “zero packaging waste” promise during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has caused a stir. In a press release published yesterday, the NGO France Nature Environnement (FNE) announced that it will file a complaint against the American giant for greenwashing, a well-known marketing technique used by a company to promote a more eco-friendly brand image.
The FNE wants “Coca-Cola to be held accountable for its actions under the misleading commercial practices offence provided for by the Consumer Code, which penalises claims that could deceive the consumer regarding the environmental impact of the product”.
The NGO denounces a “now consolidated choreography” implemented by the American company: “pour the contents of a plastic bottle into a glass, serve it to a person who then thinks he has an ecological container in his possession, then throw the bottle away out of sight”. In total, 6 million drinks were served in plastic bottles, the FNE reveals according to a confidential document that the NGO was able to consult.
The multinational, for its part, had declared that these bottles would be sorted and compacted for recycling. "Coca-Cola boasted during the Games that it had recycled 100% of the bottles collected, but to live up to the event, it would have been necessary to limit the production of plastic bottles much more," denounced Axèle Gibert, waste expert at France Nature Environment.
