Reduce Plastics Use

Resolution Text

WHEREAS: The ocean plastics crisis continues unabated, fatally impacting 260 marine species, and causing up to $2.5 trillion in damage annually to marine ecosystems. Toxins adhere to plastics consumed by marine species, which potentially transfer to human diets. There could be more plastic than fish by weight in oceans by 2050.

Recently, Pew Charitable Trusts released a groundbreaking study, Breaking the Plastic Wave, which concluded that if all current industry and government commitments were met, ocean plastic deposition would be reduced by only 7%. Without immediate and sustained new commitments throughout the plastics value chain, annual flow of plastic into oceans could nearly triple by 2040.

The report finds that improved recycling will not be sufficient to stem the plastic tide, and must be coupled with upstream activities like reduction in demand, materials redesign, and substitution. “Brand owners, fast-moving consumer goods companies and retailers should lead the transition by committing to reduce at least one-third of plastic demand through elimination, reuse, and new delivery models,” the report states, adding that reducing plastic production is the most attractive solution from environmental, economic, and social perspectives.

Competitor Unilever has taken the most significant corporate action to date, agreeing to cut plastic packaging use overall by 100,000 tons by 2025. PepsiCo has committed to substitute recycled content for 35% of virgin plastic in its beverage division. Mondelez has no absolute nor virgin plastic reduction goal.

At two-thirds of its packaging portfolio, Mondelez uses more flexible plastic film than nearly any of its competitors, which cannot be recycled. Flexible packaging represents 59% of all plastic production but an outsized 80% of plastic leaking into oceans. High use of flexible films contributes to the company’s low rate of only 2% of its packaging being recyclable, threatening the company's likelihood of success in meeting its 100% recyclable, compostable, or reusable goal by 2025.

The company received a score of D in an As You Sow study ranking corporate leadership on plastic pollution. This ranking demonstrates that Mondelez lags in its commitments, specifically on overall cuts in plastic packaging and facilitating recyclability of flexible packaging by 2025.

BE IT RESOLVED: Shareholders request that the board of directors issue a report by December 2021 on plastic packaging, estimating the amount of plastics released to the environment by our use of plastic packaging, from the manufacture of plastic source materials, through disposal or recycling, and describing any company strategies or goals to reduce the use of plastic packaging to reduce these impacts.

Supporting Statement: Proponents note that the report should be prepared at reasonable cost, omitting confidential information, and include an assessment of the reputational, financial, and operational risks associated with continuing to use substantial amounts of plastic packaging while plastic pollution grows unabated. In the board’s discretion, the report could also evaluate opportunities for dramatically reducing the amount of plastics used in our packaging through redesign or substitution.

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Lead Filer

Mr. Conrad MacKerron
As You Sow