Sustainability Factsheet

November Commentary

Environmental

• Emma Peacock, Unilever’s Manager for Sustainability in the ANZ region, was interviewed by the Waste Management Review. She said “one of the big challenges we and the rest of the industry face is ensuring packaging which is recyclable is actually recycled rather than sent to landfill. Globally, only 14% of plastic packaging is recycled, while in Australia that figure is around 31%.” Emma claims that by 2019, 25% of Unilever’s packaging in the ANZ region will be produced using recycled material.

• Colgate announced that it is joining the “All In One Recycling Challenge” created by PepsiCo Foundation and the Recycling Partnership. Colgate aims to produce 100% recyclable packaging by 2025 and have 25% of its packaging made with recycled content. Colgate has also signed the EPA’s “2018 American Recycles Day Pledge.”

• BusinessGreen.com notes that the CEOs of 10 companies, including Unilever, Coca-Cola, Danone, and the Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group wrote to Theresa May expressing their desire to see the UK achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In the letter, the CEOs praised the UK for reducing emissions by 40% since 1990. Currently the UK’s target is to reduce emissions, from the 1990 level, by 80% by 2050.

• 3M is facing criticism from groups like the Centre for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists over its alleged campaign to delay and undermine new regulations meant to address toxic pollution linked to two chemicals it manufactures. The company, which is facing a financial liability over the PFAS chemicals, specifically PFOA and PFOS that are used in Scotchgard and stain repellents, is reportedly using lobbyists and donating to state-level campaigns, including to attorney general candidates in states with major contamination. The company is also using a new advocacy group, the Responsible Science Policy Coalition, who argue that the chemicals do not pose health risks, which is in contrast to studies ran by the EPA and CDC. The chemicals, which are known to accumulate in the human body, have been associated with the cause of different types of cancer and other ailments. Allegedly, the company has been aware that the chemicals are hazardous since the 1970s. In Alabama, 3M’s plant in Decatur is accused of contaminating the Tennessee River, a source of drinking water of 4.7m people. In February 2018, 3M reached an $850m settlement with Minnesota’s Attorney General having been accused of contaminating the state’s drinking water. The company faces other lawsuits from state attorney generals as well as personal injury and class action suits. In February 2017, DuPont also agreed to pay $670m to 3,550 residents affected by water contamination from the company’s Teflon manufacturing plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

  Social

• As happened last year, PepsiCo is joining forces with Feed the Children to feed 800 families in New Orleans.

• An investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has revealed that multinationals have been paying incentives to encourage doctors to recommend their products. Johnson & Johnson and Allegan have been affiliated with the practice, and a sales agent of Johnson & Johnson is facing a corruption trial in Italy.

  Governance

• Dutch authorities have revealed that Microsoft may be breaching EU privacy rules for collecting personal data. Privacy Company, a consultancy working on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Justice, said it discovered large scale collection of personal data through Microsoft Office, without informing users. Microsoft said it collected data for functional and security purposes, however, the report found that Microsoft collects data including email subject lines and snippets of content.

  Innovation

• Unilever has signed an agreement with Bio-On, a bioplastics specialist based in Italy, to develop technologies for biodegradable plastics.

• Unilever also announced that along with several other companies they are working on replacing the practice of testing products on animals by testing them using either AI, or at the very least, non-mammals such as fleas, algae and small fish.

Last Month RRI Change

• Paypal’s RepRisk indicator rose in November as it’s being scrutinized by the UK antitrust watchdog for its $2.2bn purchase of European start up iZettle in September. The watchdog is concerned that the deal could lead to higher prices for payment services and reduce competition.