Coca-Cola, Walmart to cut plastic pollution in oceans

[MONTREAL] Coca-Cola, Walmart and other big multinationals pledged on Thursday to help reduce plastic pollution in the world's oceans in support of a campaign by five of the G-7 industrialised nations.

Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Italy, along with the European Union, signed the Ocean Plastics Charter at a leaders summit in Canada's Charlevoix region in June.

The United States and Japan abstained but non-G-7 nations Norway and Jamaica are also backing the plan to ensure 100 per cent of plastics are recyclable by 2030.

The nations aim to develop more viable alternatives to plastic packaging, to work towards a goal of all plastics being recycled and reused by 2040.

On the second day of a G-7 ministerial meeting in Canada's Atlantic port city of Halifax, Canadian Environment Minister Catherine McKenna announced "a new partnership with businesses" to reduce plastics waste.

Backers include Loblaws, Walmart, Nestle Canada, IKEA, Dow Chemicals, the Coca-Cola Company, BASF Canada and A&W Canada.

Unilever also announced that it was launching a non-profit entity to reduce consumer and business waste, while Volvo upped its target to make 25 per cent of the plastics in its cars recyclable by 2025.

AFP