Will 2025 plastic packaging commitments ring hollow?

In 2025, there will be media and consumer outrage around all the failed commitments related to eliminating virgin plastic packaging and increasing the use of recycled material.

By Tom Szaky

March 10, 2023

Image via Shutterstock/Kanittha Boon

[GreenBiz publishes a range of perspectives on the transition to a clean economy. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the position of GreenBiz.]

In 2018, hundreds of companies joined the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) Global Commitment to tackle plastic pollution. Many major companies — representing 20 percent of all plastic production globally — were part of this cohort, voluntarily pledging to accomplish the following by 2025:

For all but the first goal, signatories set their own progress metrics. Coca-Cola pledged 25 percent post-consumer recycled content (PCR) in its packaging, Nestlé a 33 percent reduction in virgin plastic use, and on and on.

If this sounded too good to be true to you at the time, you were right.

Back in 2021, Gartner predicted that 90 percent of these commitments wouldn't be met by 2025. And in its 2022 Progress Report, EMF confirmed that fear: In almost all areas, most commitments won't be met, and the target of achieving 100 percent reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging will "almost certainly" not be met. In fact, there's actually been an overall increase in the use of virgin plastic — back to 2018 levels.

We first have to step back and acknowledge economic conditions. The Global Commitment pledges were made at a time when the economy was roaring and the supply chain was humming. The COVID-19 pandemic was nowhere on the radar. There was no war in Ukraine. With years until their pledges came due, organizations felt they had time. Time they needed for multi-stakeholder dialogues, such as the U.S. Plastics Pact, to actually lead to tangible improvements in the systems for producing, using, recovering and processing plastics.

We also can't ignore the fact that it's easy to make commitments. There's no expectation of immediate action or results. And, by the time the due date for the commitment arrives, the person who made it may not even be in their role anymore. Commitments can be used as a cover or tactic to buy time, and the PR benefit of making a commitment always seems to outweigh the negative attention from failing it — especially when a company is just one of many that failed.

I’m not insinuating that empty commitments were the status quo for the Global Commitment. In fact, many — maybe even most — signatories did make some progress against at least one key metric.

Offering a few highlights from the 2022 Progress Report, several major fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies — Keurig Dr Pepper, L’Oréal, SC Johnson and Unilever — have increased PCR use in their packaging portfolio by 10 percent or more. Some companies have gone above and beyond their plastic packaging reduction goals, such as clothing brand H&M, which has achieved a 34.4 percent reduction over its goal of 25 percent by 2025. Looking to reuse, a space in which few signatories have shown much progress at all, L’Occitane has increased its percentage of reusable plastic packaging to 16.3 percent.

We can honor these steps in the right direction while still recognizing that we need leaps and bounds. Even for the positive examples I just mentioned, you might say, "Too little, too late." Or rightfully question whether some signatories intentionally set achievable goals when they could be pushing themselves to go further.

What's standing in the way of faster and more meaningful progress when it comes to plastics?

Because of the looming recession, expect to see companies further deprioritizing sustainability investments this year. But they’re already thinking ahead about damage control, planning consumer-facing sustainability programs for 2024 and 2025 that will distract from larger unmet commitments.

In 2025, there will be media and consumer outrage around all these failed commitments. While we can recognize economic pressures and other barriers, as well as the progress that has been made (however small), we should hold companies accountable. And we must also use that moment to call for legislation that actually holds them legally accountable.

Ultimately, we need to move away from plastic entirely. The true solution is to stop it at the source. We all need to vote for a better future by buying less.

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