Unilever North America Accelerates Action on Plastic Packaging to Reach 50% Recycled Content by End of Year
April 10 2019 - 10:40AM
Business Wire
In moving toward a circular packaging economy,
the company will take three significant actions to increase
consumer education and recycled content use
At the Walmart Global Sustainability Milestone Meeting today,
Unilever North America President Amanda Sourry announced plans to
accelerate and expand the company’s plastics commitments in North
America. The three-part plan provides better choices for plastic
packaging, adds clear recycling instructions on pack, and launches
a shopper education program in partnership with Walmart.
“We know that the response from the consumer goods industry is
critical in determining the speed that positive change takes place
around plastic packaging, and using less, better, or no plastics is
a priority at Unilever,” said Sourry. “Today, we are significantly
accelerating our plastic packaging commitments in North America and
are thrilled to be working alongside other industry leaders like
Walmart to push these initiatives forward.”
Globally, Unilever has made ambitious, industry-leading plastic
packaging goals, and these will be accelerated in North America
with three significant packaging initiatives.
The Unilever North America announcements include:
- Reaching 50% recycled content in
plastic packaging this year: By the end of 2019, 50% of
the plastic used in Unilever North America packaging will come from
post-consumer recycled (PCR) content. This move gives consumers a
better choice for plastic packaging. It reduces virgin plastic in
packaging, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and creates an
end-market for recycled packaging in North America.
- Adding How2Recycle® labels on all
packaging by 2021: Recognizing the widespread confusion about
the complex recycling system, Unilever North America will add clear
recycling instructions to packaging for its entire mass-market
portfolio by the end of 2021. Unilever has been working with
How2Recycle to add clear recycling labels and will now standardize
its use on all packaging in North America.
- Partnering with Walmart on “Bring it
to the Bin” shopper education program: Unilever and Walmart are
working in partnership to create in-store and online consumer
education moments around recycling. The program will incentivize
and educate customers about recycling all packaging, including
products used in the bathroom, when it launches later this
year.
“These Unilever initiatives are important steps, but we can’t
create a circular economy for plastic packaging in isolation,”
added Sourry. “We need collective action to tackle the problem at
the source by working with forward-thinking companies like Walmart,
advocating for systemic change in government and recycling
facilities, working closely with plastics suppliers, and educating
consumers. Only together will we answer the urgent call made by the
plastics issue we are facing.”
Unilever has been committed to reducing its packaging footprint
for many years as part of the global Unilever Sustainable Living
Plan, and committed to making all Unilever packaging reusable,
recyclable or compostable by 2025. Globally, the company will reach
an average of 25% recycled content in packaging by 2025.
Significant progress is being made toward Unilever’s goals at a
global level, with achievements including:
- Light-weighting packaging with a 18%
decrease in weight since 2010, which ultimately means less plastic
used to package products;
- Reduction in total waste footprint per
consumer by 31% since 2010;
- Keeping packaging volumes flat since
2010 despite portfolio growth, demonstrating efforts to decouple
growth from environmental impact.
# # #
About Unilever North America
Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Beauty &
Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products with
sales in over 190 countries and reaching 2.5 billion consumers a
day. In the United States and Canada, the portfolio includes brand
icons such as: Axe, Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers, Degree, Dollar
Shave Club, Dove, Hellmann’s, Klondike, Knorr, Lever 2000, Lipton,
Love Beauty and Planet, Magnum, Nexxus, Noxzema, Pond’s, Popsicle,
Pure Leaf, Q-tips, Seventh Generation, Simple, Sir Kensington’s,
St. Ives, Suave, Talenti Gelato & Sorbetto, TAZO, TIGI,
TRESemmé and Vaseline. All of the preceding brand names are
trademarks or registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of
Companies.
Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan underpins the company’s
strategy and commits to:
- Helping more than a billion people take
action to improve their health and well-being by 2020.
- Halving the environmental impact of our
products by 2030.
- Enhancing the livelihoods of millions
of people by 2020.
For more information on Unilever U.S. and its brands visit:
www.unileverusa.com.
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