Central American countries are the most affected by plastic bottle pollution on Latin America’s Pacific coast, with large companies like Coca-Cola representing the majority of these pollutants. Most of the plastic bottles and caps polluting Latin America’s Pacific coastline were made by The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, and Peru-based Aje Group, according to a new study from the University of Barcelona. More than 12,000 kilometres of coastline were surveyed across 2023 and 2024. “On the mainland beaches of Mexico, Guatemala and the southern countries — Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile — most of the bottles came from the same country. In contrast, in the Central American countries — El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama — the percentages of locally sourced items were significantly lower, with those of external origin predominating,” said the study’s authors, including University of Barcelona Chair on Sustainable Blue Economy Miquel Canals. El Salvador saw the highest number of plastic bottle and cap pollutants on Pacific continental beaches of any country in Latin America at 4,655, with Costa Rica taking second place with 4,426. Ecuador recorded the most bottle pollutants around human settlement areas at 1,179, a