Los Angeles County Sues Pepsi and Coca-Cola Over Single-Use Plastic Pollution and Misleading Recycling Claims

Plastics have always been one of the main ingredients of earth’s arch nemesis - pollution, due its non-decomposable nature.

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[{"selector":"#anim-7bc2a714-bf84-47d4-909a-4a182649b496","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":1000,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-5bb601ff-b897-4ad9-a904-932fc6bc41a2","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(114.82649%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":500,"duration":1500,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-ef0ea54b-d7e9-41da-b986-c760a154c251","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":1500,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-e520aaa0-a6b1-495f-9a5d-709d14a09a16","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.15)","scale(1)"]},"delay":500,"duration":1500,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"forwards"}] [{"selector":"#anim-dd6affaf-7660-4b5d-85c5-20bd11e370b3","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-112.87672%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-40e04249-a691-4080-9f9f-d6550ed2c1a4","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-0a37f672-0a2c-4035-8e2e-7ded0a70b7bb","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.15)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"forwards"}] Reusable and recyclable plastics provide an alternative but the globe is more dominated by single use plastics, which are venomous for bio health. Photo Source: Tomasz Sienicki Photo Source: Tomasz Sienicki

Plastics are very commonly manufactured by various industries like food and fashion; but nothing tops the beverage industry.

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[{"selector":"#anim-82419968-1ca0-4eeb-9473-afb485abf75a","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-113.18682%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-984bf28c-6fd9-47cc-9a43-16f1f48f1f7b","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-5e2bff08-61b0-460e-bd93-153f60278f64","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.15)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"forwards"}] [{"selector":"#anim-b692ac5c-e356-4ccb-a975-d5d8269d2690","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(114.82649%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":500,"duration":1500,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-57ded008-83f5-4e8d-bb05-c79d84475006","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":1500,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-cb592e5a-2b4b-4ed6-b1bd-1a7c50f1936c","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.15)","scale(1)"]},"delay":500,"duration":1500,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"forwards"}] [{"selector":"#anim-385564ee-214d-4f26-ba05-31a7a0833db7","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":1000,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] The top producers of plastic in the beverage industry are companies like Coca Cola, PepsiCo and so on, with these two taking top spots for years. Photo Source: José Roitberg (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Photo Source: José Roitberg (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

According to surveys conducted by BFFP Coca Cola has been at the top of the radar for plastic production for six years in a row, closely followed by PepsiCo and other companies.

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LA Country has filed a lawsuit against the aforementioned beverage companies over their extreme usage of plastic bottles for packaging.

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[{"selector":"#anim-2c35d599-0654-4725-b189-5969d6d558b4","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-113.18682%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-19b108d3-d1d3-4e78-87bc-2311e520fbeb","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-5f1d0105-1fe9-4ee9-ada7-86c14fd67061","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.15)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"forwards"}] [{"selector":"#anim-2df187c2-2cef-4c22-91eb-f51c4a458531","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(115.55555%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":500,"duration":1500,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-54b03b4d-2cf1-4a23-9c1a-68bd5451549c","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":1500,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-16ba87eb-cade-4a00-96a6-c32148e2e2f7","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.15)","scale(1)"]},"delay":500,"duration":1500,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"forwards"}] [{"selector":"#anim-07970a9b-f4ce-475d-bf26-37165140a684","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":1000,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] The companies were charged with “deception” about recycling their plastic waste, the complaint claimed the waste just ended up staying in the waste pits damaging ocean and land. Photo Source: Monika Martyn Photo Source: Monika Martyn

This complaint has joined the previous complaints made last year and another one in 2020, both against rampant usage of plastics by the companies.

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[{"selector":"#anim-d98e7c6c-e0aa-4997-a364-55264a2ff99e","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(1)","scale(1.5)","scale(0.95)","scale(1)"],"offset":[0,0.33,0.66,1]},"delay":0,"duration":1450,"easing":"ease-in-out","fill":"both","iterations":1}] [{"selector":"#anim-010ff794-10af-4448-a941-0b3871e4b580","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":200,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-f698c6ec-7ac9-44be-8588-b0486f92f23c","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":1000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-90ec801b-a64e-4d0f-8baf-c5ddda9c6cb4","keyframes":{"transform":["scale(0.3333333333333333)","scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":1000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] Microplastics to Graphene in 60 Seconds: How Scientists Turned 30 mg of Plastic into 5 mg of High-Value Material Learn more