Greenpeace ‘Monday 10th April, 2017. London – This morning Greenpeace activists have installed a 2.5 tonne ocean plastic sculpture on the doorstep of Coca-Cola’s London HQ, in protest at the company’s role in ocean plastic pollution. 

The artwork, Plasticide, was created by renowned underwater sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor and features seabirds regurgitating plastic amidst a family beach picnic. Up to 12.7 million tonnes of plastic enters the sea every year, and plastic bottles and bottle tops form a major source of the plastic packaging found washed up on the world’s shorelines. But major companies like Coca-Cola are failing to take meaningful action.

Activists are currently outside Coca-Cola’s London HQ – on Wimpole Street, near Oxford Circus (map) – where the sculpture has been adorned with tonnes of sand and waste Coca-Cola bottles, representing the company’s impact on our oceans. “Coca-Cola produces over 100 billion single-use plastic bottles every year, and billions of these are ending up on beaches, in landfill and in oceans around the world,” said Louise Edge, senior oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK.

A report released today by Greenpeace found that Coca-Cola produces over 100 billion throwaway plastic bottles every year and that the company’s use of single-use plastic bottles is rising. The report also found that Coca-Cola has failed to meet its own sustainability targets and is now restricting information it discloses on its product packaging. Despite telling its customers to recycle, globally Coke uses an average of just 7% recycled content in its plastic bottles. Click here to see the Greenpeace campaign page.