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Unilever is lowering some of its sustainability targets as they prove more difficult than expected. For example, the producer of Knorr and Dove thinks that making all plastic packaging sustainable by next year, will not be possible.
Ten more years of plastics
The target of consuming half as much new plastic by 2025 is being scrapped: rather, the multinational promises to use 30 % less plastic by 2026. Nor will it succeed in making all packaging made of reusable, recyclable or compostable plastic as early as 2025. For rigid plastics, Unilever delays that commitment until 2030, for flexible plastic packaging even until 2035.
“We’ve been working hard to create a circular economy for plastic packaging for a number of years. We’ve learnt that transformation takes time. Given the size of this challenge, we’re using our innovation capabilities to find new, scalable solutions”, the brand manufacturer explains that decision. CEO Hein Schumacher admits that reducing plastic packaging is proving very difficult.
Policy support needed
Unilever is also calling for a “stronger, harmonised policy” as it sees that “voluntary goals and initiatives” are not enough. The multinational calls for a UN treaty that “sets legally binding global rules” on plastic pollution, more policy support to try out new recycling models and – remarkably – that producers be held accountable for their packaging choices.
At the same time, however, Schumacher is cutting other sustainable initiatives. The CEO claims he is opting for less but better: Unilever now wants to just save one million hectares of natural areas (land, forest or sea) by 2030, down from the previous ambition of 1.5 million hectares. Also, the Axe producer is now going for 95 % sustainable sourcing by 2030, instead of the full 100 %. Originally, Unilever was also supposed to pay all suppliers a living wage in the magic year 2030, but that will now only apply to half of all procurement costs.
Increasingly, companies are feeling they are put between a rock and a hard place: on the one hand, they feel pressured by investors and shareholders who want to see them focus on financial results. On the other hand, the same applies for consumers, NGOs and activist shareholders who are following up on the big promises regarding sustainability targets.
