Unilever’s head of packaging: Plastic reduction targets can’t be achieved in isolation

02 May 2024 --- Unilever’s global head of packaging, Pablo Costa, has issued an extensive statement explaining the corporation’s recent decision to scale back its plastic reduction pledges, saying that overly ambitious targets were made with the best information available at the time, but circumstances have “disappointingly” changed. Yesterday, Greenpeace activists rallied in protest outside a Unilever shareholder meeting in London, UK.

“While it’s important to acknowledge the progress we’ve made, we also recognize that we’ve fallen short against some of our most ambitious goals,” Costa writes.  

“When we first set our goals, we used the best information available at the time to develop a credible but stretching plan. It was intentionally ambitious, given the scale of the problem we were trying to tackle. For example, we didn’t just aim to reduce our use of virgin plastic, we wanted to halve it.” 

“This has proved more challenging than any of us anticipated at the time. Assumptions made on the development of new technologies and infrastructure have simply not materialized as they are not fully in our control,” he continues. 

Costa confirmed that the new targets are to reduce virgin plastic use by 30% in 2026 and by 40% in 2028. The pledge to make 100% of plastic packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025 is pushed to 2030 for rigids and 2035 for flexibles. The third and fourth goals are to achieve 25% recycled plastic packaging by 2025 and collect and process more plastic packaging than is sold by 2025.

Costa points to the gap between the “technical” recyclability rate of Unilever’s plastic packaging portfolio (72%) versus the “actual” recyclability rate (53%). Packaging design is only one element that must be met by appropriate infrastructure to achieve circularity, he asserts.

Other external factors, like the COVID-19 pandemic, also derailed the company’s ambitions. 

Protestors interrupted a Unilever shareholder meeting yesterday.

Collaboration and government intervention
A spokesperson for Zero Waste Europe told us that Unilever’s decision is unsurprising given the lack of mandatory legislation. Voluntary commitments will never work in a competitive business landscape, they say, and there now stands a risk of other corporations scaling back on their promises. 

“What we know for sure is we can’t do this alone,” says Costa. “Voluntary goals and industry initiatives can only go so far, and too often they reduce the competitiveness of those taking action.” 

“More interventions are needed across the entire plastics value chain. For instance, we cannot achieve our goal to make our plastic packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable if the right infrastructure and rules aren’t also put in place.” 

“We need stronger, harmonized regulations to get everyone on track to eliminate plastic waste and pollution and level the playing field for all businesses.” 

Costa is also co-chair of the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, which advocates for a “high-ambition” outcome in the legally binding UN treaty that is set for a final negotiation round in November. 

“Global action that covers the full life-cycle of plastic will help reduce complexity for businesses like ours, accelerate investment in proven solutions and create the systems-level change we need to scale new solutions. It will also help ensure all businesses play by the same rules,” Costa explains. 

Calling for new legislation 
Unilever says it is calling on governments to accelerate the implementation of mandatory and extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes and well-designed reuse policies tailored to different markets. 

These policies include setting harmonized standards, definitions, metrics and incentives to create an enabling environment for reuse and refill to scale while encouraging “pre-competitive collaboration” to help industry players overcome shared barriers.

“We’ve learned from all of this. We now have more knowledge and insights, which we’re already applying to update our approach. We have a better understanding of the challenges of scaling alternative business models like refill stations. And we know now, more than ever, that cross-industry collaboration is essential,” Costa says. 

“While it’s disappointing to miss any target, we’re still confident that our goals were focused on the right, most important areas to tackle. Reducing virgin plastic, for example, remains the single most impactful way to prevent plastic pollution at source.”

“That said, we now know that we need more time, bolder innovations and an acceleration in systemic changes.”

By Louis Gore-Langton