Corporate Pollution

Beverage containers – plastic bottles, glass bottles, and aluminum cans – are highly recyclable and can be redesigned to be reusable. Yet, every year, billions of beverage containers end up in landfills, incinerators, or the environment as litter. Why? Because many communities don’t have effective systems to collect, manage, and recycle or reuse these containers.

But modern bottle recycling systems, or “Bottle Bills,” can solve this. These programs place a small refundable deposit on bottles and cans. Consumers get that money back when they return the empty containers for recycling or reuse. This creates a separate recycling system solely for beverage containers, which keeps the containers clean and sorted – increasing their recyclability. More importantly, the refundable deposit placed on each container motivates people to recycle them.

Bottle Bills consistently reduce litter, raise recycling rates, and generate green jobs. Even better, these programs provide all these benefits at no cost to consumers or to state and local governments. Instead, as a type of producer responsibility program, Bottle Bills require the companies that manufacture and sell beverages to cover the financial cost of collecting, sorting, and managing all these containers.

Currently, only ten U.S. states have Bottle Bills: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Vermont. But Just Zero is working with several other states and communities across the country to implement new Bottle Bill programs and modernize existing ones.

Roughly one third of all U.S. household waste is single-use packaging – like plastic wrap, cardboard boxes, plastic containers, bubble wrap, and foam peanuts. Practically all this packaging is completely unnecessary. Even worse, most of it is unrecyclable plastic that is coated with toxic chemicals, which can seep into products like food and cosmetics.

Most companies have no incentive to redesign their products and packaging to reduce waste, remove toxic chemicals, or ensure they are reusable or recyclable. Instead, big consumer brands prioritize manufacturing products and packaging as cheaply as possible. And that’s because they don’t have any responsibility for all their packaging once it’s thrown away. So, who ends up paying the financial cost to collect and (attempt to) recycle it? Local governments and individuals like you. This makes no sense. We have zero control over how these companies design their products and packaging. Why, then, should we pay to clean up their mess?

That’s where Packaging Reduction and Recycling policies (sometimes called Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging Laws) come in. Well-designed packaging policies require companies to take on the financial burden of collecting and managing their waste. And they can force companies to reduce or eliminate packaging, as well as redesign their products to be reusable, recyclable, and less toxic.

Just Zero works with communities across the country to implement new Packaging Reduction and Recycling Laws that make companies – not individuals – responsible for addressing the packaging waste crisis.

Consumers increasingly care about the environmental impact of the products they buy. The problem? Companies know this and take advantage of our good intent.

To make sustainable purchases, we are often forced to rely on what companies tell us about their business practices and products through labels, marketing, and advertisements. But too often, companies actively mislead the public or fail to disclose potential environmental dangers and health risks associated with their products and practices. This deception is known as greenwashing, and it can lead to serious consequences.

Greenwashing is a deceptive marketing tool used to trick consumers into believing a company, practice, technology, product, or policy appear environmentally friendly. This outward show of environmental responsibility allows companies to increase profits and boost their image, all while perpetuating waste and pollution. Some companies take it a step further – making voluntary pledges they never intend to meet to avoid regulation. And others actively work to undermine Zero Waste laws and regulations while promoting themselves as environmentally responsible.

Just Zero is committed to exposing and ending corporate greenwashing. We advocate for strong Truth in Labeling laws to prevent companies from making false claims about their products being compostable or recyclable when they’re not. We also work to strengthen existing programs that are meant to hold companies accountable for the claims they make about their products and packaging. Additionally, we challenge practices that may seem like solutions but ultimately fail to address the root causes of environmental issues, like so-called “advanced recycling.” At Just Zero, we believe education is key to tackling greenwashing, which is why we spotlight real-world examples to raise awareness and drive change.