Greenpeace Aotearoa has renewed its call to ban single-use plastic bottles today by revealing a sculpture of a toroa (albatross) with a ten-metre wingspan, at Mission Bay in Auckland.

The haunting artwork is made out of single-use plastic bottles, and crafted in honour of a toroa who starved to death after swallowing a plastic bottle.

This toroa became a symbol of the campaign to ban single-use plastic bottles.

The super-sized sculpture symbolises the harm plastic pollution brings to all living creatures in nature, including humans.

"The world is in a plastic pollution crisis that requires urgent action and single-use plastic bottles are one of the worst culprits," says Greenpeace Aotearoa plastics campaigner Juressa Lee.

"We’re here today to highlight the harm caused by throwaway plastic bottles, and to call out Coca-Cola as one of the main contributors to that crisis.

"Companies like Coca-Cola are making and selling one billion plastic bottles every year in Aotearoa, and show no sign of stopping. We’re calling on the government to take action by banning single-use plastic bottles."

"Our petition calling on the Government to ban the bottle is about to reach 100,000 signatures, so it’s clear New Zealanders want bold action on plastic pollution," says Lee.

The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo have just been ranked as the world’s top plastic polluters for the 4th consecutive year according to Break Free From Plastic, whose latest global Brand Audit report also charges the same leading plastic polluters for fueling the climate crisis.

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