Unilever axes plastic sustainability pledges as calls for tougher legislation grow

24 Apr 2024 --- Unilever is “unashamedly” axing a range of its environmental sustainability pledges, in what the corporation says is a needed and realistic update given current geopolitical issues and the financial pressures put on consumers.

In a release last week, Hein Schumacher, Unilever’s CEO, announced a “new era,” in which shorter-term sustainability goals will be prioritized and increased advocacy made to address issues outside the company’s control.  

In an interview with Bloomberg, Schumacher revealed that the previous commitment to halve Unilever’s use of virgin plastics by 2025 will be cut to one-third by 2026 — a difference of 100,000 tons of fresh plastic annually. 

The pledge to make 100% of plastic packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025 has been pushed to 2030 for rigids and 2035 for flexibles. 

“Our updated commitments are very stretching, but they are also intentionally and, unashamedly, realistic,” Schumacher remarked. “We are determined that Unilever will deliver against them, just as we are determined to perform against our financial goals. We want to set sustainability ambitions which are credible, which we believe we can deliver against, and which have real positive impact.”

“At Unilever we want to do fewer things and with greater impact. Our refreshed sustainability agenda — with more focus, urgency and systemic change — is no exception.”

Strong regulation required 
The announcement came shortly before the ongoing negotiations for a global plastic treaty in Ottawa, Canada (INC-4). Sian Sutherland, co-founder of advocacy group A Plastic Planet, who is attending the INC-4, tells Packaging Insights the announcement comes as no surprise given the lack of global legislation. 

Hein Schumacher, Unilever’s CEO.“It is incredibly difficult for the industry to make the substantial and very fundamental systemic changes that are needed for us to switch from our current extractive and pollutive industrial models. For one organization to do this alone is impossible. The only way we can see the scale of change needed now is through legislation — both nationally and globally,” she says. 

“Not one of our industrial worlds’ ESG commitments is going to reverse the damage we have caused. The shift is so much bigger than our current thinking can envisage. We need a fundamental change in the way we think, not just what we think.” 

In a message to global leaders at the INC-4, Sutherland says: “Learn from this. Only a strong policy will help the industry. They need absolute certainty, and law will give them that.”

“Industry has to move as one, en masse, without competition. Only strong regulation makes this possible. Our current capitalist system disempowers the industry to do the right thing. We won’t be replacing capitalism any time soon, so we need to use the tools of policy, taxation and fiscal opportunities to empower industry now.” 

Prioritizing profits 
Following the announcement last week, Unilever’s share prices rose 0.4%, after an 8% decline since Schumacher’s takeover last July. 

Larissa Copello, Zero Waste Europe’s Packaging & Reuse policy officer, tells us a drop back in pledges is inevitable given that companies will always prioritize profits to stay competitive. Voluntary commitments will not suffice, she says, and mandatory targets must be forced on the industry to prevent a domino effect of other corporations scaling back on their promises. 

“I’m surprised by the fact that they’ve [Unilever] dared to announce it publicly, but not surprised by the announcement itself. Historically, most of the companies and brands’ pledges related to the environment have either failed or been dropped,” she says. 

“The announcement could unfortunately have a negative impact at the global level with other companies doing the same, going against the ‘green’ wave in Europe (through the Green Deal) and at the global level (through the plastics treaty), where legislations are being discussed and adopted to address plastic and packaging production.”

“We’re living one crisis after the other — from climate, pollution, energy and resource depletion — and the only way to solve this altogether is by having ambitious and binding laws.”

By Louis Gore-Langton