Claims that plastic bottles are fully recyclable or recycled stand accused of being vague, factually incorrect or not substantiated.

As a result, ClientEarth and the Environmental Coalition on Standards (ECOS) are supporting the Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs (BEUC) in filing a legal complaint to the European Commission against three food and drink giants, over their use of misleading ‘100% recyclable’ and ‘100% recycled’ claims on plastic water bottles sold across Europe.

Claims about recycling also fail to account for all the parts of a plastic water bottle, such as lids and labels, which are not made from recycled plastic and are much less likely to be effectively recycled.

Rosa Pritchard, ClientEarth lawyer said: “Quite simply, we are producing too much plastic, and people and planet are drowning in it. Recycling is not a satisfactory solution, and companies shouldn’t be implying to consumers that plastic bottles are ever a sustainable choice.”

BEUC in raising an ‘external alert’ to the European Commission and the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network against Coca-Cola, Nestlé and Danone for suspected widespread infringement of consumer protection law.

The external alert submitted here argues that the recycling statements on plastic water bottles, which are often reinforced by ‘green’ imagery and generic environmental catchphrases, may mislead consumers into viewing single-use bottles as a ‘sustainable’ choice.

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