When Beverage Companies Pretend To Save The Planet
By Humphrey Ukeaja
The sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) industry loves a good photo-op, smiling volunteers in branded T-shirts cleaning beaches and collecting plastic bottles. It’s a perfect picture of corporate responsibility.
Yet behind this glossy image lies a harsh reality: the same companies championing “green” initiatives are among the biggest contributors to plastic pollution and rising health crises.
Nigeria ranks ninth globally in plastic pollution, generating about 2.5 million tonnes of waste annually — 88% of which goes unrecycled.
Lagos alone accounts for 870,000 tonnes, with more than half reportedly ending up in the Atlantic Ocean. A large share comes from single-use plastics, particularly the millions of PET bottles produced by beverage companies.
Globally, soda giants remain top plastic polluters. In 2018, between 21 and 34 billion bottles ended up in oceans, about 1.1 million metric tonnes of beverage-related waste.
Instead of owning up to this, companies often blame consumers for “littering,” while Nigeria’s recycling system remains weak, centralised, and underfunded.
The government’s plan to increase recycled PET content to 25% by 2029 under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework is promising. However, enforcement is patchy, and recycling facilities are concentrated in a few cities.
France’s success, recycling 67% of household packaging, shows that strong laws, oversight, and infrastructure can make a difference.
Beyond the environmental damage, sugary drinks also harm public health.
Linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease, which already account for 29% of deaths in Nigeria, these products add a heavy burden to the healthcare system. Yet Nigeria’s SSB tax remains a token ₦10 per litre, among the lowest globally.
Evidence from countries like Mexico and South Africa shows that higher taxes cut consumption and encourage product reformulation.
Similarly, strict EPR enforcement can push producers towards more sustainable packaging.
If Nigeria is serious about protecting its people and the planet, it must strengthen regulation, expand recycling infrastructure, and hold corporations accountable.
Until then, the beverage industry’s “green” campaigns will remain little more than clever PR, masking pollution and poor health behind the illusion of sustainability.
Ukeaja is a Healthy Food Advocate and Industry Monitoring Officer at Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA).
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