Plastic waste and recycling claims
41 cases in 28 countries, 1953–2024. Most cases: United States (10), Indonesia (8), Philippines (7), India (5), Kenya (4).
UN plastics treaty negotiations (INC-5, Geneva, Nairobi, Bangkok)
Two formal rounds of negotiations on a UN plastics treaty, in Busan in 2024 and Geneva in 2025, ended without agreement. Industry lobbyists outnumbered some national delegations, and a production cap remained in square brackets in the chair's 2026 text.
New York v PepsiCo and LA County v PepsiCo/Coca-Cola
The State of New York sued PepsiCo over plastic pollution in the Buffalo River; a judge dismissed the suit in 2024 and the attorney general's office appealed. Los Angeles County sued PepsiCo and Coca-Cola over recyclability claims.
World Bank $100m plastic waste bond tied to Verra credit sales
The World Bank's US$100 million, seven-year Plastic Waste Reduction-Linked Bond, dated January 2024, ties investor returns to sales of Verra plastic and carbon credits. For nature, the question is whether those credits pay for less plastic waste, which the cited sources do not measure.
Coca-Cola and Unilever revise plastic packaging targets
In 2024 Coca-Cola dropped a 25% reuse target and moved its recycled-content goal from 50% to 35–40%, deferred to 2035. Unilever revised its virgin plastic reduction target to 30% by 2026 and 40% by 2028.
4ocean reports over 50 million pounds of trash removed, with no independent audit
Bracelet seller 4ocean promises at least one pound of trash removed for each item sold and publishes its own tally of more than 50 million pounds. No independent audit of the figures is on record.
REDcycle soft plastics collapse (Australia)
REDcycle, a soft-plastic collection programme run with the supermarkets Coles and Woolworths, was wound up on 27 February 2023. Reports said it had stockpiled more than 12,000 tonnes of collected plastic in warehouses.
India EPR fake certificates
India's plastic packaging system lets brands meet recycling duties by buying certificates. In October 2023 the central and state pollution control boards identified about 700,000 fake certificates, according to the Centre for Science and Environment.
Verra plastic credits
A report for Fauna & Flora found that 228 of the 10,146 plastic credits issued under Verra’s Plastic Waste Reduction Standard (2.2%) had been retired by July 2024. Verra accepts incineration with energy recovery and cement-kiln co-processing as end-of-life treatment.
Philippines reports 55.98% plastic recovery under EPR, including co-processing
The Philippine Environment Ministry reported plastic recovery of 55.98% under its producer responsibility scheme, a figure that counts co-processing as recovery. The sources say the share of plastic that is burned is not disclosed, and only 1,017 of 2,130 firms were registered.
Holcim Geocycle and brand-cement plastic co-processing
Holcim's waste unit Geocycle burns plastic and other waste as fuel in cement kilns, and Holcim describes the material it processes as recycled. Reuters reported in 2021 that the plant partnerships with consumer brands were growing, and that the US Environmental Protection Agency had found no meaningful climate benefit from burning plastic instead of coal in kilns.
Japan plastic waste exports to Asia
Japan exported 683,000 tonnes of plastic waste in 2024, almost all of it to East and Southeast Asia. Japan's reported recycling rate counts a large share of that export.
California v. ExxonMobil: plastics recycling claims and the Baytown plant
ExxonMobil describes plastic waste processing at its Baytown, Texas plant as advanced recycling. In September 2024 California's attorney general sued the company, alleging that 92% of the waste processed there becomes fuel; ExxonMobil sued the attorney general for defamation.
Danone, Unilever and BP scaled back sustainability goals between 2021 and 2025
Danone replaced its chief executive, Unilever withdrew a plastic target and BP cut its low-carbon spending. Nature's stake: the plastic and emissions goals that were meant to reduce pressure on ecosystems.
Coca-Cola's partner The Ocean Cleanup reports 25 million kg collected in 2025
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.
Clorox penalised AUD 8.25 million over GLAD 'ocean plastic' bag claims in Australia
Bags marketed as containing ocean plastic were made from plastic collected on land, the sources say. The penalty was reported in April 2025, and the case bears on whether 'ocean plastic' claims match where the plastic came from.
Clorox fined A$8.25m over 'ocean plastic' claim on garbage bags
Australia's Federal Court ordered Clorox to pay A$8.25m over 'ocean plastic' claims on GLAD bags, in an action brought by the competition regulator. The plastic was collected from Indonesian settlements up to 50 km inland from the coast.
Plastic credits and Philippines PCX
Plastic credits are sold by registries including Verra and the Philippines-based Plastic Credit Exchange. Investigations found that most plastic collected under the Philippine scheme went to cement kilns, and that Nestlé Philippines spent all of $732,900 on credits from burning.
Indian plastic roads and plastic building-material ventures
India has used waste plastic in tens of thousands of kilometres of roads, and ventures in Kenya and elsewhere make building materials from plastic waste. Reported volumes are small, and test results on emissions and fire behaviour are mixed.
Most Nestlé Philippines 'plastic neutral' credits burned in cement kilns
Nestlé Philippines' 'plastic neutral' claim relied on plastic credits, 86% of which were burned in cement kilns, according to Source Material. At stake for nature is whether such offsets remove any plastic from the environment.
Alliance to End Plastic Waste and Renew Oceans (Ganges)
An industry alliance founded in 2019 pledged $1.5 billion over five years and a 15 million tonne goal. Its Ganges project collected less than one tonne before closing in 2020, and its later progress reports and independent analyses give different figures for what it has removed.
Basel plastic waste rules took effect in 2021; UK waste exports to Türkiye rose again in 2023
The 2019 Basel plastic waste amendments, in force since January 2021, put mixed plastic waste under prior consent. UK exports to Türkiye reached 141 million kg in 2023, up from 88 million kg in 2022.
American Chemistry Council proposed Kenya as Africa's plastics hub in 2020
In April 2020 the American Chemistry Council wrote to the US Trade Representative proposing Kenya as a plastics hub for Africa and asking that plastic and waste trade not be restricted. The Basel Convention regulates the movement of hazardous waste between countries, and its 2019 plastic amendments took effect in January 2021.
Coca-Cola World Without Waste targets reset
In 2018 The Coca-Cola Company set packaging goals under its World Without Waste programme. In December 2024 it removed its 25% reusable-packaging target and its virgin-plastic reduction goal and lowered its recycled-content and collection targets, moving them to 2035.
Coca-Cola plastic pledges and brand audits
Coca-Cola pledged in 2018 to collect a bottle or can for each one it sold by 2030. In December 2024 it revised its goals, while brand audits counted its products as the largest share of branded plastic waste.
China National Sword plastic import ban and container returns
China banned imports of most plastic waste from 1 January 2018. A 2018 study estimated the ban would displace 111 Mt of plastic waste by 2030, and later shipments ended up in other countries, some of which returned containers to the senders.
Malaysia imported plastic waste crisis (Jenjarom)
After China largely closed its doors to plastic waste in January 2018, imports into Malaysia rose and unlicensed plastic-burning plants opened around Jenjarom. In January 2020 Malaysia sent 150 containers back to 13 countries.
Ellen MacArthur plastics pledge off track; Coca-Cola scales back targets
In 2018 hundreds of brands backed the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Global Commitment to make all plastic packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. The foundation reported in November 2024 that signatories would probably miss their 2025 targets, and Coca-Cola then cut its packaging goals in December 2024.
Plastic found in paper-waste bales imported into East Java
Ecoton and Mongabay Indonesia recorded plastic in paper-waste bales imported into East Java. At stake are the health of the nearby villages of Tropodo and Bangun and the contamination of the local food chain.
Plastic Bank and rePurpose collector schemes
Two companies pay people to collect plastic and sell the result to brands as plastic credits or recycled-content claims. Their collection totals are the companies' own figures; no independent audit was found.
Kenya plastic bag ban enforcement and manufacturers' opposition
Kenya banned the production and use of plastic bags in 2017 over the objection of its manufacturers' association. Reports on enforcement describe arrests of bag users rather than producers.
Turkey's plastic bag fee and advertising penalties on green claims
Turkey has required at least 25 kuruş per plastic bag since 2019, and Turkish news reports say bag use fell by 70 to 78.4 percent. The Advertising Board penalised four companies in 2024 for generic 'nature-friendly' and 'climate-friendly' claims, so the stake is whether green claims about bags are accurate.
Hefty EnergyBag plastic marketed as recycling was burned in cement kilns
Dow and Keep America Beautiful marketed the Hefty EnergyBag programme as recycling, Plastics Today reported. Plastic collected in Omaha was burned in a cement kiln, which puts in question whether collected plastic was recycled.
Plastic waste imports into Türkiye (Adana)
Türkiye received 510,000 tonnes of European Union plastic waste in 2025, the largest share of any destination. A 2026 European Commission assessment said the findings pointed to a need for substantial improvements, and Human Rights Watch and Greenpeace reported harm to workers and dump sites around Adana and Istanbul.
Adidas x Parley ocean plastic shoes
From 2015 to 2024 Adidas and Parley for the Oceans sold footwear made with material described as upcycled plastic waste intercepted before it reaches the ocean. A German report put the total at about 77 million pairs, and German television reported that part of the plastic did not come from Parley's own collections.
Great Pacific Garbage Patch and The Ocean Cleanup
A Dutch foundation set out in 2013 to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch with floating systems. By the end of 2023 its ocean catch totalled 346,435 kg, against a patch estimated at 79,000 tonnes or more.
UK packaging recycling notes (PRN) system and fraud cases
The UK counts packaging recycling through tradable notes, which producers buy to meet recycling obligations and which exporters obtain for waste sent abroad. The National Audit Office found in 2018 that half of the recycling the notes subsidised was exported, with no check on what happened to the waste on arrival; later cases include a note-fraud conviction and arrests.
Plastic recycling symbol, resin codes and “advanced recycling” claims (United States)
In 1988 the US plastics industry's trade association placed numbered resin codes inside the recycling arrows, and about 40 states required the marking. In 2024 California sued ExxonMobil over its claims about “advanced recycling”; the company disputes the claims and has sued the state's attorney general.
Oregon bottle bill (1971)
In 1971 Oregon passed a container deposit law at a time when a packaging-industry-founded group, Keep America Beautiful, promoted anti-litter messaging aimed at individuals.
Keep America Beautiful, founded by can and bottle makers, opposed bottle deposit laws
The anti-litter group was set up in 1953 by can and bottle makers, and its leaders opposed deposit laws, according to the historian Finis Dunaway. The case concerns whether responsibility for litter was shifted from producers to individuals.
Keep America Beautiful and plastic industry recycling messages
Keep America Beautiful, formed by packaging makers in 1953, promoted individual responsibility for litter, and records from the 1970s and 1980s show plastics makers questioning whether recycling could work. At stake for nature is whether packaging waste is reduced at source or left to litter land and water.
Danone settles duty-of-vigilance lawsuit over plastic use
Danone settled a French duty-of-vigilance lawsuit brought by environmental groups over its plastic use in February 2025, committing to add plastic risk to its vigilance plan. Brand audits cited in Science Advances record Danone among the top-ranked brands in plastic waste.