Coca-Cola India’s rPET flag enters the Limca Book of Records, but experts warn it’s a symbolic gesture that barely scratches the surface of India’s plastic waste crisis.
Coca-Cola India’s rPET India Flag, created from around 11,000 post-consumer plastic bottles and unveiled during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, has made it into the Limca Book of Records under the “Largest Flag – Recycled Material” category. Celebrated as part of the company’s Maidaan Saaf campaign, this achievement is being touted as a milestone in sustainability by both Coca-Cola and its partners, Go Rewise and ICC.
However, while the recognition is newsworthy, the environmental impact is far more complex than the headlines suggest.
Recycling 11,000 plastic bottles may sound significant, but it is minuscule compared to the millions of single-use PET bottles Coca-Cola circulates in India every single day. The recycled flag, though visually impressive, represents just a fraction of the plastic waste the brand is responsible for producing. As with similar initiatives—like Bisleri’s recent “Binny the Bird” plastic sculpture unveiled on World Environment Day—this effort falls into what critics call “artwashing” or “greenwashing”: using aesthetic and symbolic recycling projects to create a perception of sustainability without addressing the core issue of mass plastic production.
Turning trash into art may generate media attention, but it doesn’t offset the harm caused by single-use plastics entering landfills, waterways, and ecosystems. The underlying business model still relies on high volumes of virgin plastic packaging, and gestures like these do little to disrupt the cycle of consumption and waste.
While Coca-Cola India’s Maidaan Saaf campaign has elements of awareness-building, such as deploying over 1,000 volunteers during the tournament to promote proper waste segregation, the scale of the actual recycling effort remains too small to significantly move the needle. In fact, initiatives like these often serve more as brand reputation tools than genuine sustainability interventions.
If Coca-Cola is serious about sustainability, the next step must go beyond repurposing a sliver of waste for record-setting stunts. It should involve eliminating single-use plastics, investing in reusable packaging systems, and taking responsibility for end-of-life product collection at scale—measurable changes that align with the environmental costs of its operations.
Until then, these record-breaking “green” moments may only distract from the urgent need for real systemic change.