The Philippines' Plastic Problem

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - APRIL 15: Sachets of various food items and toiletries hang at a kiosk on April 15, 2023 in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines. The Philippines is the largest ocean polluter in the world, contributing a third of the 80% of global ocean plastic that comes from Asian rivers, according to a 2021 report by Oxford University's Our World in Data. Poverty has led the Philippines to become a "sachet economy" that consumes 163 million sachets every day, worsening marine plastic pollution in the region. The trash is piling up on land, clogging coastlines, spilling into the sea, and traveling to remote corners of the globe, as the country fails to meet targets for improved waste management that it signed into law more than two decades ago. According to Greenpeace, global corporations trap low-income customers in developing countries like the Philippines to buy - and buy often - fast-moving consumer goods in small quantities packaged in cheap, disposable plastics as part of a strategy to drive market share and profits. Break Free From Plastic’s 2022 Brand Audit Report revealed that the Coca-Cola Company, Philip Morris International, Universal Robina Corporation (URC), Philippine Spring Water Resources, Inc., and Japan Tobacco International are the worst plastic polluters in the country. Globally, Coca-Cola also leads the list for five years in a row, followed by PepsiCo, Nestle, Mondelez International, and Unilever – all consistently part of the annual top 10. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)