Hi John,
I’m writing to you from inside the Global Plastics Treaty negotiations in Geneva — and things are heating up fast.
Surfers Against Sewage is here with allies from around the world to fight for a strong, legally binding treaty that actually tackles plastic pollution at its source. But the polluters? They’ve shown up en masse to try and water it down.
We’ve just analysed the official attendee list — and it’s no surprise who we found...
🧴 Coca-Cola — the world’s worst plastic polluter, and #1 in every single SAS brand audit, producing over 3 million tonnes of plastic every year.
🥤 PepsiCo — 2.5 million tonnes of plastic annually, no real commitment to reduce it, and still pushing ‘waste management’ as the answer.
🍫 Nestlé, Mars, Unilever, and Suntory — all in attendance, all top polluters in the UK, all part of alliances that refuse production cuts and consistently back watered-down policies.
🛢️ And it’s not just the brands. Fossil fuel and Petrochemical giants like ExxonMobil, Dow, and INEOS are also here — trying to block ambitious progress and protect their plastic profits.
These profiteering polluters are the very reason we’re in a plastic crisis. And now they want a treaty that lets them carry on as usual: shifting blame onto waste systems, lining their pockets, and pushing false solutions to greenwash, not solve, the crisis.
This is outrageous. Share our post to show the world is watching. And we won’t stay silent. 👇
And it's not just these brands we need to keep an eye on. Behind many of them are industry-led coalitions like the Alliance to End Plastic Waste and the Business Coalition — groups that sound good on paper, with promising commitments.
But don’t be fossil-fooled. So far we’ve only seen pollution, not real action. They’re here to protect corporate interests, not people or planet.
So we’re calling them out, one by one — and making sure the voices of communities, not corporations, are heard in these rooms.
Help us call the polluters out:
👉 Conduct a Brand Audit: Help us collect more data on the worst offenders by doing a clean in your local outdoor space and collecting data on the polluting brands you find. Sign up here.
👉 Share our message: Spread the word by sharing our Instagram post or brand exposé blog and tag the polluters. Make it clear we’re watching.
This is our chance to turn the tide on plastic. But to win, we need our voice louder than theirs.
Thank you for being in this fight with us.
In solidarity from Geneva,
Ruby
Plastic Pollution Policy Officer
Surfers Against Sewage
