Whales beached after ingesting plastic, oceans soiled: a quarter of marine waste today comes from cans and plastic bottles. The drinks industry produces 470 billion single-use bottles each year, 25% of which come from Coca-Cola. Although the world's largest soft drink producer has set ambitious targets to prevent this environmental pollution, it has often failed to do so. In the 1950s, the company sold its drink exclusively in returnable glass bottles, which it washed and refilled. Two decades later, these were replaced by disposable bottles - a decision whose devastating effects still linger.
Editing
Packs devastating archival punches into 29 tight minutes.
Writing
Sharp contrast between 1950s refillables and today's ocean graveyards.
Director
Laura Mulholland
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Coca-Cola has been named the world's top plastic polluter by Break Free From Plastic for multiple consecutive years.
The documentary taps into growing 'plastic guilt' culture, where consumers shoulder blame that corporations engineered.