Unilever reduce their plastic pollution committment – Greenpeace reaction

Commenting on the annoucement by Unilever that they are reducing their plastics pollution commitments Nina Schrank, Head of Plastics at Greenpeace UK said:

Unilever should hang their heads in shame today. Hein Schumacher and his board are well aware of the ruinous impact of their plastic pollution. The tsunami of plastic they produce each year meant their existing targets were already not fit for purpose. We needed much more. And so rather than doubling down they’re quietly dressing up their backpedaling and low ambition as worthy pragmatism. But that pragmatism equates to billions and billions more impossible to plastic sachets polluting communities who simply can’t handle this waste. This is not the action on plastic pollution that consumers around the world are calling for and ultimately a terrible business move for the company.

There’s a grim irony in the fact this announcement comes days before Unilever will join nations from around the world at negotiations on the Global Plastics Treaty. The strong Global Plastics Treaty the world deserves needs stronger ambition than Unilever are offering. If they truly want to stand as leaders in the fight against plastic pollution they must stop selling plastic sachets now, commit to phasing out single-use plastic within a decade and advocate for this same level of ambition at UN Global Plastics Treaty negotiations.