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Cases / Plastic waste and recycling claims · International · 2024

Coca-Cola and Unilever revise plastic packaging targets

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 4 none on record · 1 not measured See the gaps

In 2024 Coca-Cola dropped a 25% reuse target and moved its recycled-content goal from 50% to 35–40%, deferred to 2035. Unilever revised its virgin plastic reduction target to 30% by 2026 and 40% by 2028.

What?
Coca-Cola dropped its 25% reuse target and lowered its recycled-content and collection targets; Unilever cut its virgin plastic reduction target and extended the deadline. Packaging Dive
Where?
Company-wide targets, as reported. Packaging Dive
When?
Unilever's change reported in April 2024; Coca-Cola's in December 2024. Packaging Europe
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
The companies revised their packaging goals, as reported by trade press. Packaging Dive
5 of 6 questions answered from the record · open: who

What happened

The record, in order.

Packaging Dive reported in December 2024 that Coca-Cola dropped its 25% reuse target, cut its recycled-content target from 50% to 35–40% and deferred it to 2035, and lowered its collection target to 70–75%.

Packaging Europe reported in April 2024 that Unilever scaled back its target to halve virgin plastic by 2025, to a 30% reduction by 2026 and 40% by 2028.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • None on record The sources reviewed do not give the companies' reasons for the revisions.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not give the volumes of plastic covered by the revised targets.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not say whether either company has reported progress against the revised targets.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not describe the controversy referred to in the Packaging Europe headline.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

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    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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