Consumer goods companies abandoning 2025 plastic packaging reduction goals

As one of the biggest users of plastic packaging in the world, in 2019 consumer goods company Unilever pledged to cut its use of virgin plastics in half by 2025. Now, due to “pressure from shareholders in corporations ranging from banks to oil companies to cut costs and focus more on stock market performance than green projects,” it is instead aiming for a one-third reduction by 2026 according to reporting from The Guardian. “The less ambitious target equates to about 100,000 tonnes more fresh plastic every year,” The Guardian writes.

In addition to the environmental goals, the company is also dropping the goal to pay suppliers a living wage by 2030, opting for fair pay for half of its suppliers by 2026, and abandoning commitments to spend €2bn annually with diverse businesses.

According to Unilever, the restructuring will still target actions on four key areas: climate, nature, plastics, and livelihoods, but commitments will be more focused, long-term, and systemic. «Our updated commitments are very stretching, but they are also intentionally and, unashamedly, realistic. We are determined that Unilever will deliver against them, just as we are determined to perform against our financial goals.»

Critics, such as Greenpeace UK, have condemned these changes, accusing Unilever of prioritizing cost-cutting over substantial environmental action.

Similarly, Colgate-Palmolive is reevaluating its 2025 targets and plans to extend environmental packaging goals beyond 2025.

The Food Packaging Forum curates an extensive database of companies’ sustainability-related initiatives and commitments for their food packaging products. The Brand & Retailer Initiatives Database (BRID) includes more than 700 actions from nearly 400 companies, going back to 2013. As tracked in the database, Unilever and its subsidiaries are signatories to a multitude of national and international plastics pacts, that involve achieving various plastic packaging reduction targets by 2025. The Food Packaging Forum does not follow up on claims to verify fulfillment. Stakeholders are welcome to submit entries.