Plastics pledge refocuses amid big-name departures

2030 Plastics Agenda for Business reduces targets and shifts focus to collective action, but without the backing of some former signatories

When the first Global Commitment on Plastics was launched in 2018, it was hailed as drawing “a line in the sand”.

Coca-Cola, Danone and Unilever were among 250 founding signatories, all pledging to create “a new normal” by switching entirely to reusable, recyclable or compostable plastic packaging by 2025. 

With less than eight weeks left to go, it’s clear that no major company will achieve that target. 

“[E]arly optimism of what’s possible is increasingly colliding with the complex realities of scaling solutions in a shifting and uncertain world,” admitted the initiative’s convener, the Ellen Macarthur Foundation (EMF), in a document laying out its plan for the next five years.   

Lower ambitions

Under the original commitment, which included four mandatory requirements, firms had to review their targets every 18 months, and “become increasingly ambitious”. 

In reality, ambitions have generally moved in the opposite direction. 

Earlier this year, Walmart, Mondelēz, Mars, Nestlé and L’Oréal USA all exited the US Plastic Pact as the initiative prepared to set 2030 targets.

Shortly before that, the Coca Cola Company quietly shelved a pledge to make 25% of its packaging recyclable by the end of the decade.

In response to the row back, EMF appears to have softened its expectations. 

For starters, the Global Commitment now has just one mandatory requirement: signatories must reduce their absolute use of virgin plastic at a recommended annual rate of 3% – although the ambition level is at the discretion of the company.  

The requirement to make packaging recyclable has become entirely voluntary, and now allows for materials that are “designed for recycling”, even if they’re not actually recyclable at scale in the markets in which they’re being sold.

The move reflects a shift among companies, who are increasingly reluctant to adopt targets that rely on developments outside of their direct control.   

Nestlé, for example, now uses a designed-for-recycling metric because “plastics recycling infrastructure is not developing fast enough in many countries around the world” to ensure it will actually be recycled. 

Apparent departures

Despite all the accommodations, a number of former signatories to the Global Commitment appear to have abandoned the initiative in its second phase. 

Walmart, Coca-Cola and Mondelēz are among those now absent from the initiative’s website. 

Real Economy Progress reached out to each company for comment but did not receive any response.

EMF declined to comment on specific companies, but pointed out that the initiative still represents around a fifth of the plastic packaging market.   

Other big names like Danone, Unilever, Pepsico and Nestlé have reaffirmed their commitment, although there will be less scrutiny on their individual progress in the second phase, as the initiative refocuses on collective action and advocacy.  

“[E]ven the most ambitious leaders face systemic barriers no company can overcome alone: scaling reuse, tackling flexible plastic packaging waste, and developing collection and recycling infrastructure,” EMF wrote. 

The non-profit also revealed that, while signatories had collectively reduced virgin plastic use by 6% between 2018 and 2024, global use had jumped 13%.  

Faced with this gloomy reality, the initiative admitted it was time to “look beyond companies’ efforts on their own footprint”.