"Have a gourde day." The play on words (gourde means "water bottle" in French) posted around the Olympic venues is admittedly a little clunky but it does encourage Olympic Games (OG) spectators to bring their own water bottles to "take advantage of the free water fountains." Paris 2024 has set itself the goal of organizing the "greenest" Games in history. This entails a significant commitment: To halve the use of single-use plastic compared to the London Games. How will this be achieved? By cracking down on plastic bottles.
The 20 or so fan zones managed by the Paris City Hall are equipped exclusively with free (Parisian) water fountains and (paid) soda fountains set up by Coca-Cola, the official drinks sponsor and distributor at the Games.
At most event venues, although it is possible to fill water bottles from free access fountains or restrooms, plastic is still ever-present. Many spectators have been dismayed since the beginning of the Games. From the Stade de France to the Bercy Arena, including the Roland-Garros stands, the same astonished comments can be heard in the long lines at Coca-Cola stands, where guests are served small plastic bottles of water or soda (Coca-Cola, as well as Sprite, Fanta, Tropico, or Fuze Tea) or in plastic cups with a €2 deposit (a little over two dollars). "For Paris 2024, we're helping to reduce packaging," read the sign at the American soda giant's refreshment bar.
"I'm not one to blame imperfect brands for trying to improve, but when I feel I'm being taken for a fool, I find it hard to keep smiling," said Ingrid Vanhée on LinkedIn from the Stade de France. Before joining Noé, an organization dedicated to biodiversity conservation, Vanhée led the strategy for Citeo, the eco-organization created by companies in the mass retail sector to reduce the impact of their packaging. "So, The Coca-Cola Company, tell me I'm wrong about the Olympics, but I feel like you're trying to win the gold medal in greenwashing," she said.
On Wednesday, July 31, Philippe Bolo, MP for Maine-et-Loire (MoDem) and author of several key reports on plastic pollution, attended the handball tournament at the Arena Paris Sud located at the Parc des Expositions in Paris. On the same platform, he also shared his "questions" about the brand's strategy for limiting plastic waste during the Olympics: "If the drinks sold alongside the events are in reusable deposit cups, why are they filled from bottles and not fountains?"
At some venues, cups (known as "eco-cups") are indeed filled from fountains. Coca-Cola claims to have installed "nearly 700" of them, including in the Olympic Village and the dining areas reserved for volunteers. However, they could not be deployed at all sites for "operational" reasons, according to the Organizing Committee and Coca-Cola, citing the absence of a water distribution network connection at temporary sites, lack of space in existing refreshment stands, and problems with post-Games partnerships, as is the case at the Stade de France and Bercy Arena.
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