Unilever commits to fully recyclable plastic packaging by 2025

Global consumer goods manufacturer, Unilever, has made a commitment to ensure all its plastic packaging is 100 percent reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.

Making the announcement on January 14, the company called on the entire fast-moving consumer goods industry to accelerate progress towards the circular economy.

As part of its new commitments to achieve ‘Sustainable Development Goal 12’, shifting away from a “take-make-dispose” model of consumption to one which is fully circular, Unilever has also renewed its membership of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation for another three years, and will endorse and support its ‘New Plastics Economy’ initiative.

As part of this, Unilever will publish the full “palette” of plastics materials used in its packaging by 2020, which it says will “help create a plastics protocol for the industry.”

In addition, the company said it will also invest in proving – and then sharing with the industry – a technical solution to recycle multi-layered sachets, particularly for coastal areas that are most at risk of plastics leaking into the ocean.

“Our plastic packaging plays a critical role in making our products appealing, safe and enjoyable for our consumers. Yet it is clear that if we want to continue to reap the benefits of this versatile material, we need to do much more as an industry to help ensure it is managed responsibly and efficiently post consumer-use,” commented Paul Polman, Unilever CEO.

“To address the challenge of ocean plastic waste we need to work on systemic solutions - ones which stop plastics entering our waterways in the first place. We hope these commitments will encourage others in the industry to make collective progress towards ensuring that all of our plastic packaging is fully recyclable and recycled.

“We also need to work in partnership with governments and other stakeholders to support the development and scaling up of collection and reprocessing infrastructure which is so critical in the transition towards a circular economy. Ultimately, we want all of the industry’s plastic packaging to be fully circular.”

As part of its commitment, Unilever says it will ensure that by 2025, it is technically possible for its plastic packaging to be reused or recycled and there are established, proven examples of it being commercially viable for plastics re-processors to recycle the material.