Greenpeace labels Unilever, Coca-Cola, Nestlé’s plastic incineration “dirty and misleading” following Reuters investigation

29 Oct 2021 --- Major FMCGs including Unilever, Coca-Cola, Nestlé and Colgate-Palmolive are being accused of “dirty and misleading” waste incineration practices after a Reuters investigation flagged a series of global collaborations with cement companies, who use plastic waste as fuel for their kilns. 

FMCGs and cement producers claim these partnerships are a solution to the world’s plastic pollution crisis and provide a greener alternative to traditionally coal-powered cement production.

PackagingInsights explores the issue with Claire Arkin, global communications lead for the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), following the organization’s open letter to COP26 delegates warning “waste-to-energy” incineration seriously undermines carbon emissions reductions targets. 

Arkin stresses waste incineration is “the worst form of waste management from both a climate and price perspective,” with wind and solar power costing three times less on average. 

“Alternatively, by implementing zero waste systems like better collection, composting and recycling, municipalities can reduce waste management costs by up to 70% and create 200 times more jobs.” 

“Trash and Burn”
The Reuters investigation identified nine collaborations between various consumer goods companies and concrete producers. 

While the amount of plastic waste incinerated for concrete globally is unknown, the practice has shot up over the past years as taxes and bans on single-use packaging, alongside so-called polluter pays legislation like Extended Producer Responsibility schemes, are introduced and expanded worldwide. 

Undeveloped nations turn to incineration as they are overwhelmed with single-use plastic pollution.Meanwhile, the cement industry accounts for 7% of global carbon emissions. Partnerships between FMCGs and cement producers claim to reduce plastic waste and decrease carbon emissions simultaneously.

A representative of one of the world’s largest cement makers asserts incineration practices are safe, inexpensive and practical. They also told Reuters anyone who thinks recycling and plastic avoidance are the only solutions “believe in fairy tales.” 

However, according to the Energy Justice Network, waste incineration is far more polluting than coal burning. 

The advocacy network states, “trash incinerators release 28 times as much dioxin than coal, 2.5 times as much carbon dioxide, twice as much carbon monoxide, three times as much nitrogen oxides, 6-14 times as much mercury, nearly six times as much lead and 70% more sulfur dioxides.”

Poison potential 
Another fear arising from plastic incineration is toxic air pollution. Reuters says it spoke with sources who fear dangerous toxins could escape industry smokestacks and threaten human and environmental health. 

While superheated kilns usually destroy all toxins from alternative fuels, malpractice and potential malfunction remain a risk. 

“Consumer goods companies are green-lighting air pollution issues for local communities and continuing climate impacts,” says Greenpeace USA global plastics project leader Graham Forbes. 

“They have realized traditional recycling will not solve their plastic waste catastrophe, so they are turning to so-called ‘waste-to-energy projects’ to get rid of the evidence.”

Southeast Asia 
In Reuter’s investigation, a key discovery was a large incineration operation on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia, funded in part by Unilever. Indonesia is the second biggest ocean polluter on earth behind China, according to research published in Science. 

Southeast Asian countries struggle with waste management due to undeveloped infrastructure and widespread single-use plastic packaging. Extensive coastlines in the region also exacerbate marine pollution levels.FMCGs and cement producers claim plastic waste incineration is a greener alternative to coal power.

PackagingInsights recently spoke with Xuan Quach, a Vietnam Zero Waste Alliance coordinator in Vietnam, where new waste incineration projects are being planned ahead of COP26. She explains the Vietnamese government is “overwhelmed” and is turning to incineration practices in desperation. 

Last year, an agreement involving Unilever and Dow Vietnam was signed to commence plastic waste incineration for cement production. Small-scale incinerators operating in Vietnam have already increased from 208 in 2015 to 381 in 2018, says Quach. 

Quach asserts corporate behavior – like the mass production of single-use plastic packaging – makes it difficult for the government to adopt a more hardline approach toward incineration. The amount of plastic produced for each Vietnamese citizen per year has increased 1,900% between 1990-2019, she says, with up to 50% of it being single-use. 

“We are hopeful for the long run that the law will regulate and incentivize groundbreaking action to limit single-use plastic by creating a national producer responsibility framework for packaging and enacting a bag ban,” she adds. 

“If these frameworks can successfully reduce the amount of single-use plastic, the incinerators will lack feedstock and this could drive a decreasing trend in the number of incinerators and incinerator capacity in Vietnam.” 

By Louis Gore-Langton