As a top tier, long-time Olympic sponsor, Coca-Cola has a big presence at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Whether it’s one of the Coke variants, or Powerade, Smartwater of Fuze Tea, visitors to the games can pick up a plastic bottle, drink and discard.
Even before the 2024 Olympics got underway, a group of 100 athletes – of whom 22 are competing in Paris – sent a letter to the CEO of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo demanding the company uses its sponsorship to promote reusable products.
Brad Ross, Coca-Cola’s VP global sports and entertainment marketing and partnerships this week told SportsPro: “We do understand their concerns. And I think that’s why we’ve taken such steps in this games and the future games to come in trying to be as neutral as we can in this regard.”
Coca-Cola has installed fountains for dispensing water and other drinks to refill reusable containers, as well as selling returnable glass bottles and bottles made with recycled plastic. There are recycling stations for athletes and spectators.
A recent Channel 4 Dispatches, “Coca-Cola’s dirty secret”, dug into the company’s sustainability claims, but like many big companies, Coca-Cola has established at least the appearance of good sustainability credentials: it was ranked as the world’s most sustainable beverage company by the 2023 Dow Jones Sustainability Index.
