The Paris Olympics aims to be the most environmentally friendly Games in history, with plans to cut single-use plastic consumption in half compared to the 2012 London Games.
However, French environmental organizations have voiced concerns about what they describe as a “bizarre” and “surreal” experience at some beverage stands managed by the main sponsor, Coca-Cola. Observers noted servers filling plastic reusable “eco-cups” from 50cl plastic bottles, creating piles of empty bottles for recycling.
Campaigners argued that the practice of pouring millions of plastic drink bottles into reusable cups represents a double use of plastic and constitutes “greenwashing.”
Coca-Cola, a major American beverage company and one of the top producers of plastic worldwide, is a primary sponsor of the Olympics and the sole supplier of 18 million beverages at the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. This includes Coke, Fanta, and Sprite, which are sold to spectators and provided to athletes at the sidelines.
In a statement, the company expressed its support for the Games’ goal to reduce single-use plastics and emphasized its commitment to cutting down waste. They noted that over half of their drinks at the Olympics—9.6 million—would be “without single-use plastic” due to the installation of 700 soda fountains and the use of glass bottles.
However, the company indicated that in cases where soda fountains weren’t feasible, about 6.2 million drinks would be served to the public using recycled plastic bottles, which would then be poured into reusable cups. Coca-Cola plans to retain the empty plastic bottles to ensure proper recycling. They cited difficulties in setting up soda fountains at every Games site to meet the “best conditions for safety and food quality” due to technical and logistical challenges.
At various venues, from water polo at the Aquatics Centre to tennis at Roland Garros and athletics at the Stade de France, fans were surprised to find their reusable plastic cups filled from small plastic bottles, especially when they could return these cups for a €2 deposit.
Ingrid Vanhée from the biodiversity organization Noé expressed disappointment through social media, sharing images of the plastic cups and bottles at Stade de France, asserting that spectators were being treated “like fools” and that Coca-Cola was trying to secure the “gold medal for greenwashing.” Centrist MP Philippe Bolo questioned why reusable cups weren’t being filled directly from fountains if they were truly being utilized.
“This is not a good representation for France or Coca-Cola,” remarked regional councillor and French Green party spokesperson Sophie Bussière, criticizing the practice of using plastic bottle pour into plastic cups.
“We cannot continue to tarnish splendid moments of communal celebration like the Olympics with such environmental negligence,” she added.
Marine Bonavita from the NGO Zero Waste France remarked: “Pouring from a plastic bottle into a reusable plastic cup contradicts our vision of zero waste… It is shocking not just to NGOs but to the public, which is why it’s trending on social media.”
Prior to the Games, Zero Waste France, France Nature Environnement, and other NGOs cautioned against the potential for “greenwashing” surrounding beverage consumption at the event. Many athletes are served drinks in sealed, single-use, recycled plastic bottles to prevent possible “sabotage doping” and to protect against drinks being spiked. This has required an exemption on public health grounds from France’s anti-waste law that bans distributing single-use plastic bottles in publicly accessible venues. The NGOs have contacted French government officials for clarification on this exemption but have received insufficient responses.
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Concerns have also been raised about the 13 million reusable plastic cups provided to spectators at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which can be returned for a €2 deposit.
Muriel Papin from the organization No Plastic in My Sea described it as “surreal” to witness beverages from plastic bottles transferred into plastic cups, labeling it “wasteful and a duplication of plastic waste.” She also expressed concern that the reusable cups, decorated with Coca-Cola branding specific to the Paris Games, could be seen as collector’s items and not returned.
“If people choose not to return the reusable cups, instead taking them home or discarding them, it leads to additional waste,” she warned.
At the Stade de France, several attendees using the reusable cups provided at Coca-Cola stands expressed they were unaware they could return them. Others indicated they wanted to keep them as souvenirs. Rikke, a marketing manager from Denmark, who was watching athletics commented: “I love the cup’s design; I have Hard Rock drinking glasses at home and I plan to add this to my collection.”
Nathalie Gontard, a research director at the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment and author of a book on plastic waste, noted that the practice of pouring from plastic bottles into plastic cups is “a somewhat absurd approach to addressing plastic pollution.”
“The public is not blind, and there’s a sense of disappointment,” Gontard stated, adding that there should have been drinking fountains available at all venues and systemized washing and reuse of glasses on-site. She emphasized that recycling plastic—which is energy-intensive and limited in its reuse—is “only an acceptable solution for absolutely necessary plastics, which these are not.”
