Multinational consumer goods company Unilever has announced its commitment to producing fully reusable, recyclable or compostable plastic packaging by 2025.
As part of the commitment, the company will renew its membership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) for three more years, as well as endorse and support its New Plastics Economy initiative.
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Under the renewed membership, Unilever will also publish the full ‘palette’ of plastics materials used in its packaging by 2020 to help create a new protocol for the industry.
Unilever CEO Paul Polman said: “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.
“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.”
As part of its commitment, Unilever will invest in a new solution for recycling multi-layered sachets.
According to EMF, only 14% of the plastic packaging used worldwide is currently recycled at plants, while 40% is dumped in landfill.
