Group seeks assistance from FMCG industry to achieve ‘fully circular’ plastic packaging
netherlands Unilever has announced a commitment to ensure all plastic packaging is fully reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025 and has called on the FMCG industry to accelerate progress towards the circular economy.
Treating plastic packaging as a valuable resource to be managed efficiently and effectively is key to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 12 (Sustainable Consumption & Production) and, in doing so, shifting away from a ‘take-make-dispose’ model of consumption to one which is fully circular.
As part of its plans to transform its use of plastics, Unilever is renewing its membership of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) for another three years and endorsing and supporting its New Plastics Economy initiative. And as part of this, Unilever will publish the full ‘palette’ of plasticsmaterials used in its packaging by 2020 to help create a plastics protocol for the industry.
Unilever has already committed to reduce the weight of the packaging it uses by one third by 2020 and to increase its use of recycled plastic content in packaging to at least 25% by 2025.
A part of this new commitment, Unilever will ensure that by 2025, it is technically possible for its plastic packaging to be reused or recycled and that there are established, proven examples of it being commercially viable for plastics reprocessors to recycle the material.
“Our plastic packaging plays a critical role in making our products appealing, safe and enjoyable for our consumers,” said Unilever CEO Paul Polman. “Yet it is clear that if we want to continue to reap the benefits of this versatile material, we need to do much more as an industry to help ensure it is managed responsibly and efficiently postconsumer use.
“To address the challenge of ocean plastic waste we need to work on systemic solutions – ones that stop plastics entering our waterways in the first place. We hope these commitments will encourage others in the industry to make collective progress towards ensuring that all of our plastic packaging is fully recyclable and recycled.
“We also need to work in partnership with governments and other stakeholders to support the development and scaling up of collection and reprocessing infrastructure which is so critical in the transition towards a circular economy. Ultimately, we want all of the industry’s plastic packaging to be fully circular.”
Ellen MacArthur said that Unilever was “contributing to tangible system change” and sending “a strong signal to the entire fast-moving consumer goods industry”.
“Combining upstream measures on design and materials with post-use strategies demonstrates the system-wide approach that is required to turn the New Plastics Economy into reality,” she said.