Skip to content

“Why can’t you cut your use of virgin plastic faster?”

Published:

We’re completely rethinking the role of plastic in our business. And this is one of the questions we’re asked most frequently. Here’s our response.

Two Magnum ice cream tubs made from recycled polypropylene. Magnum was the first ice cream brand to use rPP in its packaging.

We’ve pledged to halve our use of virgin plastic by 2025. The two most important ways we plan to achieve this is by ramping up our use of post-consumer recycled plastic (PCR), and by eliminating over 100,000 tonnes of plastic from our packaging.

We’re making good progress towards these targets, but we’re often asked why we can’t do this quicker.

The opportunities and challenges

PCR is a great alternative to virgin plastic because it will keep plastic out of the environment and in the circular economy. We’re ramping up our efforts here, with more of our brands using PCR all the time.

Having started at 1% in 2018, the most up-to-date figures we have – from 2020 – show that approximately 11% of our total packaging footprint now consists of PCR. This means we’re on track to achieve our 2025 goal of 25%.

Our challenge is to go beyond this goal which means there needs to be enough high-quality, post-consumer recycled materials available. There’s no shortage of plastic in the system – but turning plastic waste into usable material is not straightforward. It relies on the right packaging design, and local collection and sorting facilities.

To recycle plastic, it must be first sorted by type. For instance, HDPE (high-density polyethylene – typically used for bottles of home care products or shampoo) needs to be separated from PET (polyethylene terephthalate – often used in foods packaging) because they are processed differently. That’s not easy, which means in many countries, high-quality PCR is difficult to get hold of and is often sold at a premium.

There also needs to be more investment in waste collection and recycling technologies. This includes processes to transform more plastic waste back into high-quality, food-safe recycled plastic. Currently, this can be done through two processes: mechanical and advanced recycling.

We hope that our commitment, alongside pledges from other organisations, to use recycled content will stimulate the market to produce more, and act as a catalyst to increase the collection and reprocessing of materials.

In North America, we’re investing $15 million in the Closed Loop Partners’ Leadership Fund, to help recycle an estimated 60,000 tonnes of plastic packaging waste annually by 2025 – an amount that’s equivalent to more than half of our plastic footprint in the region.

This private equity fund acquires and grows companies across the value chain that are working to increase recycling and keep valuable materials in the circular economy and out of landfills. Our investment will help secure PCR plastic supply for our brands – including Dove, Hellmann’s and Seventh Generation, which already use 100% PCR bottles – and increase access to recycled plastic feedstock processed by the companies that the fund invests in.

Our goal to halve the amount of virgin plastic we use by 2025 is a big ambition. The more others come on board and seek to tackle this together, the bigger impact we can have and help us achieve our vision of a waste-free world.

Discover more about how we’re rethinking plastic packaging

Back to top