plastic pollution

Tim Hortons and Starbucks ranked two of the biggest plastic polluters in Canada

For the second year in a row, Nestlé and Tim Hortons are the top two brands whose garbage can be found along Canadian coastlines, according to Greenpeace Canada.

Starbucks, Coca-Cola and McDonald's were also among the top five this year. Some of the top garbage found this year include cigarette butts, bottles and caps, cups and lids and food wrappers.

The top companies were named from 1,426 pieces of identifiably branded plastic out of 13,822 pieces of plastic waste collected.

In total, 400 volunteers participated during shoreline cleanups across Canada between April to September 21.

The findings were part of a global audit of 42 countries naming the worst plastic polluters. Community groups participating in the Break Free From Plastic movement across the country collected waste and identified the top brands that made an appearance in the waste.

In an email to the CBC, Nestlé said it was working to prevent its packaging from ending up landfills. "We are accelerating our action to eliminate unnecessary plastics and ensuring that all our packaging is recyclable or reusable by 2025," the company said.

Tim Hortons has offered a 10-cent discount to people bringing in reusable mugs since 1978.

Earlier this year, Starbucks announced some efforts to decrease its environmental impact, including strawless lids for iced coffee cups.

The audit also found that compostable materials like paper straws, compostable dog waste bags and paper cups were among the litter, meaning that these materials are still creating pollution in the short-term.

Lead photo by

John Elmslie


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