26th May 2023 – (Paris) Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced on May 26 that the city intended to ban single-use plastic when it hosts the 2024 Olympic Games. The move is part of efforts to combat the global plastic pollution crisis.
Visitors to temporary Olympic competition sites in the French capital will not be allowed to bring plastic bottles. Instead, Coca-Cola, the designated sponsor of the Paris Olympics, will distribute its products in reusable glass bottles and over 200 soda fountains, which will be reused after the games. Reusable cups will also be used for refreshments during the Olympics marathon.
“Plastic (waste) remains a major global issue: Each year, 14,000 mammals and 1.4 million seabirds are killed due to the ingestion of plastic waste,” said Hidalgo’s office in a statement.
Paris Olympics organizers have expressed a desire to halve the carbon footprint compared to previous Summer Games in Rio in 2016 and London in 2012. The Tokyo Olympics held last year took place behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) released a report on May 16, stating that countries could reduce plastic pollution by 80% by 2040 by using existing technologies and implementing major policy changes. The UNEP published its analysis of policy options to tackle the crisis two weeks before countries gather in Paris to launch a second round of negotiations for a global treaty aimed at eliminating plastic waste.