Paris 2024 Olympics: Coca-Cola Criticized for Single-Use Plastic Promises

Coca-Cola, the exclusive beverage distributor for the Paris 2024 Olympics, is being criticized for its mixed messages on single-use plastic. Despite its sustainability promises, 40% of beverages are still served in plastic bottles.

Coca-Cola's Sustainability Efforts at Paris 2024 Olympics Questioned Amid Continued Plastic Bottle Use

In a recent report by Le Monde.fr, despite the exclusive drinks distributor at the Paris Olympics focusing on its glass bottles, returnable cups, and fountains, 40% of the beverages will still be served in plastic bottles, starkly contrasting their publicized efforts.

For months, Coca-Cola, the exclusive beverage distributor of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, has been announcing its dedication to "support the ambition" of halving the use of single-use plastic compared to the 2012 London Games, in conjunction with Paris 2024.

The Games' organizing committee and the American soda giant have emphasized the unprecedented use of 700 water and soda fountains in the athletes' village and spectator refreshment areas. Returnable glass bottles (particularly in VIP areas), reusable and returnable eco-cups, and recycled plastic bottles will be utilized "when operational conditions prevent the installation of fountains."

The objective is to provide athletes and accredited visitors with approximately 18 million beverages, half of which will be free. Nevertheless, the United States company was cautious not to disclose that nearly half of these beverages will be packaged in plastic bottles.

FNE Uncovers Coca-Cola's Continued Plastic Bottle Use for Paris 2024 Despite Eco-Friendly Claims

The National Federation of Associations for the Protection of the Environment, France Nature Environnement (FNE), played a pivotal role in uncovering the truth about Coca-Cola's plastic bottle usage. In February 2023, they obtained a confidential memo from the organizing committee, which was then cited by the news website Vakita. The memo revealed that three-quarters of the 9 million drinks planned for sale would be sourced from plastic bottles but served in the eco-cups above, a fact that Coca-Cola needed to be more forthcoming about.

According to the memo that Le Monde was able to consult, a staggering 6.4 million beverages will be sold to spectators from plastic bottles, compared to only 1.6 million from fountains or glass bottles. "We've reached a new level of greenwashing," said Axèle Gibert, FNE's waste network coordinator. Coca-Cola is using a sham, eco-cups, to hide a reality—the persistence of the massive use of plastic bottles.