Unilever to Halve Use of New Plastic as Uproar Over Waste Grows

(Bloomberg) -- Unilever pledged to halve its use of newly made plastic by 2025 as the consumer-goods industry wrestles with growing criticism of the environmental impact of throwaway packaging.

The maker of Dove soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream said it will reduce its overall use of plastic by 100,000 tons yearly and step up recycling to achieve the goal.

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Food and beverage companies face growing pressure from shoppers and environmental groups such as Greenpeace to curb their use of plastic as more of it ends up polluting the world’s oceans. Nestle SA has unveiled paper wrapping for Yes fruit and nut bars and pledged to make all of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025.

Unilever previously made similar commitments. As it pursues the new goals, the company said it’s testing new ways of reducing plastic in containers for products such as laundry detergent and shampoo, including setting up refill stations or selling concentrated versions of the contents.

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