Report: Auditing the actions of the UK’s top polluters

The Surfers Against Sewage Brand Audit is an analysis of the data recorded by 1,000s of volunteers from litter picks, beach, river, park and street cleans across the UK, revealing which brands (and parent companies) are the worst offenders when it comes to packaging pollution.

The 2025 report – researched and delivered with support from Resource Futures’ experts – shows that more than half of all branded packaging waste can be linked back to just twelve brands, nicknamed in the report as ‘the dirty dozen’. The brand audit investigates the environmental and circularity claims of these brands (and the parent companies behind them) and assesses how their actions stack up against their promises.

An overview into policy levers that could spur these brands into taking action, as well as an assessment of the lobbying activities of the ‘dirty dozen’ around policy change related to packaging and plastic pollution.

Read the full report here.