Big brands admit packaging goals miss

Unilever, PepsiCo, and Colgate-Palmolive are among a number of big companies that have announced that they will not meet their longstanding packaging sustainability goals. 

These companies are adjusting their ambitious 2025 targets. Unilever, which initially pledged to halve its plastic consumption by 2025, has revised its goal to a one-third reduction by 2026. CEO Hein Schumacher blames ineffective recycling systems but faces criticism for potentially increasing fresh plastic production by 100,000 tonnes annually. 

Colgate-Palmolive has reported that while almost 90% of its packaging was recyclable, reusable or compostable in 2023, industry challenges with flexible packaging hinder full transition by 2025. CEO Noel Wallace emphasises the need for collaborative systemic changes. 

PepsiCo admits it won't achieve 100% recyclable, compostable, biodegradable, or reusable packaging by 2025, citing various challenges. However, it anticipates falling short by only 2% and commits to continued innovation and investment.

In four seconds, the world produces nearly 60 tonnes of plastic, almost entirely out of fossil fuels. This was highlighted by sustainable business news website Grist in a deep dive into the plastic industry’s proposals for the global plastic treaty. Over 475m tonnes of plastic are produced per year. In March 2022, 193 United Nation member states agreed to negotiate a treaty to end plastic pollution by 2025, with some advocating for a cap on plastic production. 

Despite the potential threat to their business, fossil fuel and chemical companies say they support the treaty, focusing on enhancing recycling and waste management instead of capping production. Their proposals could reduce global plastic pollution by 36% by 2050, but experts argue that a production cap would be more effective.

The industry emphasises the benefits of plastics in certain sectors and advocates for “plastics circularity”, which includes better recycling and waste management. The proposals include mandatory recycling rates, targets for recycled content, and investments in infrastructure. The industry's influence in the global treaty negotiations is growing, with many lobbyists participating. The final treaty is expected to reflect a compromise between environmental goals and industry interests.

The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) announced at London Climate Action Week a 30% increase in companies disclosing their nature-related impacts. This brings the total to 416 organisations that are now aligned with its framework. The publicly listed companies now represent over $6tn in market capitalisation, marking a 50% increase since the TNFD's announcement in January. Key new adopters include financial institution Legal & General investment Management and Volvo. The TNFD aims to integrate nature-related considerations into business strategies, providing better-quality data for investors.

In 2023, the number of companies setting science-based targets doubled, as confirmed by the Science Based Targets initiative. The SBTi Monitoring Report 2023 highlighted a 102% increase in companies with science-based targets compared to previous years, including an 83% rise in financial institutions and a 57% rise in corporates setting targets. Small and medium-sized businesses also saw significant growth. 

The SBTi says this shows the growing need for instruments and standards to enable corporate decarbonisation on a mass scale and called on other companies to set targets urgently.

Manufacturing and services accounted for 58% of target-setting companies in 2023. Pharma and healthcare recorded the highest growth of 222%. Japan now has the highest number of validated companies, overtaking the UK.

The new UK government has appointed Chris Stark, the former chief executive of the UK's Climate Change Committee, to lead a new “mission control centre” on clean energy. Following its victory in the recent UK general election, the Labour government has pledged to work with energy companies and regulators to deliver clean and cheaper power for the UK by 2030. Stark has previously clashed with Conservative ministers over the UK's climate progress. 

UK commentators have suggested this new appointment is a sign that the new government is serious about tackling climate change. The centre will focus on issues such as grid connectivity, supply chains and attracting investment to help the UK decarbonise its electricity system by 2030. The government has also removed the de facto ban on new onshore wind farms in England, as part of its commitment to double the capacity of onshore wind in Britain by 2030. 

The campaigning NGO Mighty Earth has published a new report finding that seven of Spain’s main supermarket chains, including Alcampo, Lidl and Aldi, are failing in commitments to halt deforestation and land conversion in the Brazilian Amazon and the Cerrado.

The report reveals that nearly 4m tonnes of soy were imported from Brazil to Spain in 2023, mainly for use as animal feed for livestock. The report finds a high risk of this being linked to deforestation and conversion of highly threatened ecosystems. Aldi, Carrefour and Lidl have published that they have a global deforestation and conversion free policy that includes soy, although Mighty Earth says there is little supporting evidence found of this in practice. 

Mighty Earth is urging Spanish supermarkets to publicly commit to a deforestation and conversion free policy and action plan. It also calls on the Spanish meat industry to exclude actors that contribute to the deforestation of natural ecosystems from their supply chains, and to disclose the origin of their soy products imported from Brazil. Mighty Earth is also calling on the Spanish government to ensure proper implementation of the EU deforestation regulation.

The price of coffee is set to increase due to climate change, shipping disruptions and new EU regulations, according to the Italian coffee company Lavazza.  Reported by the Financial Times, this increase in cost is due to intense pressure on supply chains, with worsening harvest conditions in major production areas such as Vietnam and Indonesia and shipping disruption caused by conflict, particularly in the Middle East. Ships are forced to take longer routes to avoid attacks in the Red Sea. The EU deforestation regulation is also pushing up coffee prices, as only 20% of coffee farmers are ready to meet the regulation, Lavazza says. Coffee prices have reached 15-year highs, with the price of a 1kg bag of beans rising by 15% in the UK, for example, over the past year. This is expected to increase by a further 20-25% in the coming year. 

However, retail coffee markets continue to grow, with sales volumes up 2.9% in 2023 in the UK alone compared to the previous year. Lavazza said this reflects a "strong trend" of consumers opting for fresh coffee at home, driven in part by environmental concerns over pod machines.

In a recent investigation by environmental groups, Indonesian palm oil giant Astra Agro Lestari (AAL) has been accused of illegal activities, including cultivating crops inside national forest estates, seizing land from farmers and intimidating human rights defenders. This has put AAL, Indonesia's second-largest palm oil producer, under scrutiny for significant environmental and human rights violations. Major multinational companies including Unilever, ofi, BlackRock and Jardine Matheson are also implicated due to their associations with AAL.

The Friends of the Earth report highlights that approximately 18,000 hectares of AAL’s palm oil concessions overlap with protected forest areas in Indonesia, particularly in Sulawesi. Allegations include operating without necessary permits and failing to obtain consent from local communities, leading to land conflicts.

AAL denies these claims, arguing that the data used in the investigations is inadequate and that it has adhered to legal requirements and best practices. However, AAL has not shared its official plantation coordinates, leading to disputes over the accuracy of the claims.

Despite these denials, the controversy has prompted some brands to suspend sourcing from AAL. The allegations highlight broader governance and supply chain issues within Indonesia's palm oil industry, which is the world's largest and has faced ongoing criticism for contributing to deforestation and violating local communities' rights.