Unilever “should hang their heads in shame”, says Greenpeace, after the consumer goods giant watered down some of its green pledges under its new CEO.
The new boss of Unilever, Hein Schumacher, who took over last year, says that giving certain brands a social or environmental purpose “simply won’t be relevant or it will be an unwelcome distraction”. He also said the consumer giant’s sustainability efforts had been “spread too thinly”:
Schumacher, who also said the Magnum and Knorr maker will stop “force-fitting” social justice messaging onto its brands, has rubberstamped a decision to reduce a virgin plastic use target which will result in Unilever using an extra 100,000 tons of fresh plastic a year.
Schumacher has also axed plans to invest €2 billion annually with diverse businesses globally by 2025 and has binned a commitment of 5% of Unilver’s workforce being made up of employees with disabilities.
Other moves by Schumacher, which have inflamed campaigners, include dropping a promise to halve food waste in its operations by 2025 and to make all its ingredients biodegradable by 2030.
Schumacher’s strategy is in marked contrast to his predecessor Alan Jope, who was big on Unilever brands carrying a social purpose.
Greeenpeace has blasted the proposals by Schumacher.
Nina Schrank, head of Plastics at Greenpeace UK said: “Unilever should hang their heads in shame today. Hein Schumacher and his board are well aware of the ruinous impact of their plastic pollution.
“The tsunami of plastic they produce each year meant their existing targets were already not fit for purpose. We needed much more. And so rather than doubling down they’re quietly dressing up their backpedaling and low ambition as worthy pragmatism.
“But that pragmatism equates to billions and billions more impossible to plastic sachets polluting communities who simply can’t handle this waste. This is not the action on plastic pollution that consumers around the world are calling for and ultimately a terrible business move for the company.
“There’s a grim irony in the fact this announcement comes days before Unilever will join nations from around the world at negotiations on the Global Plastics Treaty.
“The strong Global Plastics Treaty the world deserves needs stronger ambition than Unilever are offering. If they truly want to stand as leaders in the fight against plastic pollution they must stop selling plastic sachets now, commit to phasing out single-use plastic within a decade and advocate for this same level of ambition at UN Global Plastics Treaty negotiations.”
