Matt Casale
Former Director, Environment Campaigns, PIRG
STATEMENT: Keurig Dr. Pepper to boost efforts to reduce plastic pollution
Media Contacts
Steve Blackledge
Senior Director, Conservation America Campaign, Environment America
BOSTON – Keurig Dr. Pepper, one the world’s largest beverage companies, has committed to accelerate its efforts to reduce plastic pollution and expand reuse and refill options for its containers. In response to a shareholder proposal filed by Green Century Funds, the beverage giant will expand its 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report to include more details on refillable and reusable container pilot programs. The company also pledged to publish an annual “reuse and refill baseline assessment” in its CSR report, starting in 2023. By 2024, Keurig Dr. Pepper plans to launch related pilot programs in key U.S. markets where the local infrastructure and culture are conducive to their success.
Every day, Americans throw away millions of single-use plastic containers. Plastic can take hundreds of years to fully degrade and the vast majority can’t be recycled. That means every piece ever made is still out there — piling up in our landfills, littering our streets, and polluting our environment.
In response, PIRG’s Environment Campaigns Director Matt Casale issued the following statement:
“Nothing we use for a few minutes should pollute our future for hundreds of years. To tackle the plastic pollution crisis in the U.S., we need to eliminate the single-use plastics we can live without, notably the plastic bottles so many of our drinks come in. We’re glad to see Keurig Dr. Pepper commit to concrete steps to reduce plastic pollution and provide new reuse and refillable options. We look forward to seeing the company expand on these efforts and encourage more beverage companies to follow suit.”
Steve Blackledge, Environment America’s Senior Conservation Campaigns Director, said:
“Unnatural waste shouldn’t litter natural spaces, and wildlife across America, from sea turtles to birds, shouldn’t find their homes inundated with single-use plastics. Unclogging this glut of plastics will take all hands on deck, and that very much includes major companies. We’re pleased that this company can be a pepper and be a leader, too.”
