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We believe plastic is a valuable material. It is crucial for the safe and efficient distribution of our products, and has a lower carbon footprint than many alternative materials. It has its place, but that place is definitely not littering our streets, rivers and oceans.
We need to keep plastic inside the circular economy – where it is reused, recycled or composted. And where it is kept in a loop, to stop it from ever finding its way into the environment.
Transforming packaging systems requires innovation, infrastructure and collaboration across the value chain.
So, we’re taking action on plastics in three key areas:
Reduction: Reducing our virgin plastic footprint
Circulation: Designing for reuse, refill and recycling, and developing the infrastructure necessary for these systems to work
Collaboration: Working with partners across the packaging value chain and advocating for well-designed, harmonised regulations on plastic
You can read more about the progress we are making globally towards these targets here.
Pot Noodle has introduced a new pot made from 90% FSC-certified paper, reducing plastic use while remaining recyclable. The design includes a thin plastic layer for freshness and can be recycled with cardboard. This innovation supports Unilever’s goal to cut virgin plastic use and could remove 4,000 tonnes annually.
We have moved all our Colman’s sachets out of plastic and into a new FSC-certified paper material. The new pouches replace existing unrecyclable multi-material laminate sachets with a solution that has just two layers, meaning they can now be recycled in households.
In 2023, our Radox bottles were redesigned so they can be refilled and reused. The bottles are made from 50% post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic and can be refilled with Radox’s new 500ml refill packs, which use 74% less plastic.
We pioneered the development of a new detectable black pigment for our black plastic bottles and packaging, so they can now be ‘seen’ by recycling plant scanners and sorted for recycling. The new technology means that an additional 2,500 tonnes of plastic bottles could now potentially be sorted and sent for recycling each year in the UK alone.
We’re keeping plastic in the loop by making more of our products fully recyclable and using more recycled plastic back into our packaging. Our Dove and Hellmann’s bottles are all made with 100% recycled plastic.
All our Simple wipes are now available in a biodegradable material. The wipes are made using renewable plant fibres and sustainable wood pulp.
For some of the barriers to better recycling and packaging innovation there are no easy fixes and sustainable solutions depend on many elements working together.
We believe that partnerships and collaboration across the full value chain – from the supplier and manufacturer, through to the shopper and waste management companies – is needed to tackle the biggest challenges we face to creating a waste-free world.
Three years of pilots confirm collecting flexible plastic for recycling is affordable, scalable and backed by consumers.
We’re committed to helping our shoppers and employees to do the right thing, supporting a better understanding of the complex plastic landscape and helping people to reduce waste and recycle more often.
As a member of the On-Pack Recycling Label (ORPL) scheme, we’re adding OPRL’s recycling labels across as many of our products as possible, providing recycling guidance which is simple, clear and consistent.
Our brands are also helping shoppers to make more sustainable choices with on-pack messaging and campaigns which encourage shoppers to recycle more and waste less.
Every year we support WRAP’s #RecycleWeek campaign, sharing the recyclability of our products and encouraging people to recycle them.
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