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Cases / Plastic waste and recycling claims · International · 2021

Coca-Cola's partner The Ocean Cleanup reports 25 million kg collected in 2025

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 4 none on record · 1 not disclosed · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

Coca-Cola has been a global partner of The Ocean Cleanup since 2021, and the cleanup reports more than 25 million kg collected in 2025. The system's effects on marine life, including bycatch, are disputed.

What?
Coca-Cola is a named partner of The Ocean Cleanup, whose systems reported more than 25 million kg collected in 2025. The Ocean Cleanup
Where?
Interceptors in Asia and the United States; the 2025 ocean and river split was not published. The Ocean Cleanup
When?
Partnership since 2021; 2025 collection figures reported in The Ocean Cleanup's 2025 review. The Ocean Cleanup
Who?
Gained
  • The Coca-Cola Company — named as a partner for Interceptors in Asia and the United States The Ocean Cleanup
Lost
None on record
Harmed
  • Fish and endangered turtles — caught as incidental catch, according to a 2025 net-benefit study
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Interceptor devices collect plastic from rivers and the ocean; The Ocean Cleanup reports the tonnage it collects. The Ocean Cleanup
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The Ocean Cleanup reported that it collected more than 25 million kg of plastic in 2025, bringing its cumulative total to more than 45 million kg; the ocean and river split was not published. Coca-Cola has been a global partner since 2021.

The Atlantic reported in January 2019 that the system could destroy the neuston, the surface-dwelling ecosystem; The Ocean Cleanup replied in February 2019 that it had found no evidence the neuston was at risk.

A 2025 net-benefit study found that fish made up about 84% of incidental catch by count and that endangered and vulnerable turtles had been caught; seven of its 22 authors work for The Ocean Cleanup.

The Dutch government commissioned a review of the operator's impact assessment, dated 31 October 2024; The Ocean Cleanup committed to revise the assessment.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • None on record The sources reviewed do not give the value of Coca-Cola's contribution to the partnership.
    • Not disclosed The Ocean Cleanup has not published a cost per kilogram, and its 2024 accounts were not reviewed.
    • Insufficient The operator's dashboard states that catch numbers are not verified by DNV in real time.
    • None on record The bycatch quantity specific to Velella was not found, and the supplementary table of the 2025 study was not read.
    • None on record The conclusions of the Dutch government review and the revised impact assessment were not read.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not show independent measurement of effects on the neuston.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society✓ Researchers

    Press and investigations

    1. Review of The Ocean Cleanup
      Government of the Netherlands · 2024-10-31

    Communities and civil society

    1. The Ocean Cleanup: 2025 in review
      The Ocean Cleanup · 2026-01
    2. The Ocean Cleanup Annual Report 2023
      The Ocean Cleanup · 2024
    3. The Ocean Cleanup and the neuston
      The Ocean Cleanup · 2019-02-06

    Researchers

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    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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