Greenpeace: US supermarket plastic pollution has worsened amid industry-fueled pandemic propaganda

03 Mar 2021 --- US supermarkets are deprioritizing environmental sustainability during the COVID-19 pandemic after “falling prey to plastics industry propaganda,” according to a Greenpeace report.

The report, titled “Shopping for Plastic: The 2021 Supermarket Plastics Ranking,” assessed 20 US retailers’ plastic reduction efforts and failed them all.

Each retail chain, including Aldi, Trader Joe’s, Walmart and Target, was given a score out of 100 based on four criteria: policy, reduction, transparency and initiatives.

The highest score of 34.8 was awarded to Giant Eagle. Score averages were down from Greenpeace’s last ranking in 2019 – something it attributes to industry manipulation.

“Unfortunately, the results of our supermarket plastics ranking are not surprising,” Greenpeace USA Oceans campaign director John Hocevar tells PackagingInsights.

“Supermarkets play an incredibly important role in the plastic waste crisis. There is not a single place that individuals are confronted with more throwaway plastic than in our supermarkets.”

Hocevar says the plastic pollution crisis is spinning out of control, impacting human health and contributing to climate emergencies.

“We don’t have time for greenwashing and excuses from retailers. They must show leadership now.”

Exploiting COVID-19 fears
Greenpeace asserts the fall in supermarket standards is due in part to the plastics industry using the COVID-19 pandemic to spread disinformation over plastics. There is currently a dispute in research over transmissibility of the virus on different materials, the NGO says.

The Greenpeace report assessed 20 US retailers’ plastic reduction efforts and failed them all.Industry did this to “exploit people’s fears around sanitation and hygiene to interfere with legislation banning or regulating the use of single-use plastic bags.”

Last year, the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) sent a letter to the US Department of Health and Human Services urging them to “make a public statement on the health and safety benefits seen in single-use plastics.”

However, Greenpeace says this contradicts other evidence showing the virus can live longer on plastic surfaces than other materials.

Moreover, PLASTICS used research by petrochemical business-funded groups to blur evidence showing plastic to be a highly transmissible surface, the NGO claims.

In response to these fears, many supermarkets discontinued bans on single-use plastic checkout bags, delayed reuse initiatives, and struggled to maintain momentum on sustainability initiatives, Greenpeace asserts.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently underscored there is no credible evidence of food or food packaging associated with or as a likely source of COVID-19 viral transmission.

Notably, Innova Market Insights pegged “Hygiene Heroics” as its fourth top packaging trend for 2021.

“Vote with your dollar”
Hocevar says despite the poor results of Greenpeace’s supermarket ranking, policymakers, industry and consumers have room to take action against retailers whose plastic reduction efforts are falling short.

“We know that retailers across the country are not doing nearly enough to address this crisis. We have seen some baby steps from some of them and a strong commitment to eliminating all single-use plastics by 2025 from Giant Eagle, but there needs to be more action urgently.”

Supermarkets can take action by eliminating plastic from their store brand items while forcing the world’s top-polluting FMCGs like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé to act by demanding better products, he asserts.

“These retailers have the power to shift things in a better direction but have thus far failed to use that power. We all have the power to vote with our dollar and support those who are moving away from throwaway plastics.”

By Louis Gore-Langton

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