by Joe Brock
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Research released on Wednesday says some of the world’s biggest consumer goods companies, including PepsiCo, Mars and Nestle, are at risk of missing out on their targets to make plastic packaging more sustainable by 2025.
The study by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the United Nations Environment Program also finds that some companies — including Coca-Cola and Pepsi — are using more virgin plastic despite their pledges to reduce its use.
Dozens of major brands have set targets to increase plastic recycling and reduce the use of single-use packaging in partnership with the Ellen MacAurthur Foundation, to improve their environmental image.
The main promise was that 100% of plastic packaging would be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025, but this goal will “almost certainly be missed by most organisations”, according to the study.
Nestlé said a lack of government recycling infrastructure globally has hampered its goals. The group claims to have reduced its amount of virgin plastic use by 8% since 2018.
Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Mars did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to Greenpeace, this report is proof that voluntary corporate targets have failed. The NGO calls on the UN to forge a treaty that obliges governments and companies to use less single-use plastic packaging.
Members of the United Nations are due to meet in Uruguay this month to begin negotiations on the first-ever global plastics treaty.
Some members want the pact to include legally binding targets to increase recycled content in packaging and use less oil-derived virgin plastic, rules that would have financial implications for consumer goods and petrochemical industries.
(Report by Joe Brock, French version Dina Kartit, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
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