(Credit: As You Sow)Today, As You Sow released its "Waste & Opportunity 2020: Searching for Corporate Leadership" report analyzing the actions, or inactions, of 50 of the largest US consumer-facing companies to reduce plastic pollution. The report concludes that companies are far too slow in adopting responsive actions and promoting reusability, recyclability, or compostability in their packaging, and failing to shift away from wasteful packaging, toward circular models that prioritize absolute reduction.
Out of the 50 companies in the beverage, quick-service restaurant, consumer packaged goods, and retail sectors, the highest grade was a B- for Unilever. Twelve companies received C grades, 22 received D grades, and 15 received F grades. The six lowest ranked companies by size of revenue were Walmart, Kroger, PepsiCo, Tyson Foods, Kraft Heinz, and Mondel?z International. The report says the high number of poor and failing grades reflects a lack of basic goal setting, strategy, and planning which must be developed to effectively address the plastic pollution crisis.
Plastic production is set to quadruple by 2050, yet only 14% of plastic packaging is recycled globally, and just 13% is recycled in the US single-use packaging is a major component of the up to 12 million pounds of plastic trash swept into waterways annually. Plastics greatly contribute to climate change. By 2050, greenhouse gas emissions from plastic could reach 56 gigatons, or up to 13% of Earth’s entire remaining carbon budget.
Company actions were analyzed and graded on six pillars businesses must implement to address the plastics crisis: packaging design, reusable packaging, recycled content, data disclosure, voluntary support for improving recycling systems, and mandated financial responsibility to improve those systems.
The most progress was evident in pledges to redesign packaging to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable, followed by commitments to increase recycled content and actions to support recycling. There report shows there was notably less leadership in the areas of reusable packaging innovation, data transparency, and producer responsibility. These results indicate that companies have a long way to go to transition from single-use plastics to reusable alternatives, take financial responsibility to fix the US recycling system to dramatically increase recycling yields, and deliver a more circular plastics economy.
Key recommendations from the report:
