who are the world&rsquos biggest polluters a report by nonprofit environmental and social responsibility organisation, as you sow, and the natural resources defense council nrdc, examined the packaging practices of fortyseven fast foodquick service restaurant chains, beverage companies, and consumer goodgrocery companies in the us, and outed the worst as well as the best.why because plastic packaging is the fastest growing form of packaging, largely due to growth in fast food and consumer beverages. 80 of the ocean&rsquos pollution is made up of it. and because the plastic material that is wasted globally each year is worth approximately 14.8 billion.yes, the report was conducted in and for the us, but the findings are indicative of the situation the whole world is in. the majority of the companies it examined are global.the report called, waste and opportunity 2015 environmental progress and challenges in food, beverage, and consumer goods packaging, found that few companies have robust sustainable packaging policies or systemwide programs to recycle their packages.none of the fortyseven companies attained the report&rsquos highest best practices status. major international companies like dunkin donuts, burger king, kfc, millercoors, and kraft foods were shown to be missing the mark.the study also identified systemic issues including, a disjoint between real and claimed access to kerbside recycling us, a technical glitch preventing vast amounts of black plastic containers commonly used in qsrs from being recycled, a large proportion of compostable packaging is not being composted, and contaminated recyclables are increasingly preventing readily recyclable materials such as plastic pet bottles from being more widely recycled.packaging practices in each industry sector were rated according to attributes such as types of material used, whether those materials are recyclable, compostable, andor made of recycled content, and what the companies are actually doing to promote recycling of their packages.the key findings among food companies arestarbucks and mcdonald&rsquos were cited for better practices.dunkin&rsquo brands, subway, chickfila, chipotle, panera bread, and yum brands were rated needs improvement.arby&rsquos, quizno&rsquos, burger king, wendy&rsquos, jack in the box, dairy queen, domino&rsquos pizza, and papa john&rsquos pizza were identified as poor for showing little to no leadership on packaging sustainability, based on information they make public.with the exception of starbucks, none of the qsr brands analysed has aggressively sought frontofhouse recycling for part or all of its packaging, systemwide.just one small food chain, pret a manger, with 60 sites in the us, offers frontofhouse recycling and composting at all of its locations.the key findings among beverage companies arenew belgium brewing, cocacola, nestle waters na, and pepsico were cited for better practices.dr pepper snapple group, diageo, and anheuser busch were categorised as needs improvement.heineken, millercoors, boston beer, and red bull were identified as poor for showing little to no leadership on packaging sustainability, based on information they make public.the list of consumer goodsgrocery companies examined in the report includes campbell soup co., clorox co., colgatepalmolive co., conagra, dean foods, general mills, johnson & johnson, kellogg co., kraft foods group inc., kroger co., mondelez international, nestle usa, procter & gamble co., safeway inc.,smithfield foods inc., supervalu inc., target corp., unilever plc, walmart stores inc., and whole foods market.the star performerswalmart was cited for achieving its commitment to reduce packaging across its global supply chain by 5, and its goal of increasing its use of postconsumer recycled plastic in products and packaging by 3 billion pounds by 2020.procter & gamble has agreed to make 90 of its packaging recyclable by 2020.colgatepalmolive has agreed to make packaging for three of four product categories recyclable by 2020.unilever committed to increase postconsumer recycling of its packaging 15 by 2020 in its top 14 global markets.conrad mackerron, senior vice president and report author, as you sow, stated, &ldquowe found that most leading us. fast food, beverage, and packaged goods are coming up significantly short of where they should be when it comes to the environmental aspects of packaging. these companies have not sufficiently prioritised packaging source reduction, recyclability, compostability, recycled content, and recycling policies. increased attention to these key attributes of packaging sustainability would result in more efficient utilisation of postconsumer packaging, higher u.s. recycling rates, reduced ocean plastic pollution,and new green recycling jobs.&rdquodarby hoover, senior resource specialist and packaging report project editor, natural resources defense council, added, &ldquosingleuse food and beverage packaging is a prime component of the plastic pollution in our oceans and waterways, which kills and injures marine life and poses a potential threat to human health. companies have an opportunity and an obligation to curb this pollution. better packaging design andimproved support and adoption of recycling are key to turning the tide on this unnecessary waste.&rdquo 
