Using our voice to build a circular plastic economy

Plastic is a valuable material but plastic pollution must stop. To achieve a circular economy for plastic, we need strong commitments to be supported by systemic change and enabling policy. That’s why we're working with suppliers, governments and other partners to advocate for global action and well-designed regulations that will help to create the right enabling environment for a circular economy, drive positive environmental outcomes and support sustainable business growth.

Advocating for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

We believe optimal EPR schemes – in which companies like Unilever pay for the collection and processing of packaging – can be a game-changer in tackling packaging waste. EPR systems can be industry-led voluntary programmes or are mandated and underpinned by policy and regulation. Well-designed EPR schemes can help to improve recycling systems (closing the gap between packaging that is ‘technically’ recyclable and packaging that is ‘actually’ recycled), by ensuring that money is invested back into waste management and packaging innovation, and hold businesses to account for the packaging choices they make. Critically, EPR schemes can provide governments and the packaging value chain with transparency over what packaging is being put onto the market, and how it’s being managed.

We support EPR policies that reflect the unique waste management requirements in each country, both through our own actions and through our global partnerships. For example, we signed the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s public statement supporting the use of EPR, alongside industry peers. As more governments introduce mandatory EPR schemes, it is crucial the regulations that underpin EPR are designed to deliver strong environmental outcomes and improve transparency. We also believe social inclusiveness and fairness are paramount in markets with informal waste sector involvement.

In 2020, we endorsed the Consumer Goods Forum position on the design of EPR schemes. This paper provides a shared perspective on the guiding principles and key design parameters of optimal EPR policies. And in 2025, we contributed to the Consumer Goods Forum guidance on EPR in low-and middle-income countries.

Partnering for a circular plastics economy

We’re long-term collaborators with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. In 2018, we were among the first to sign the Global Commitment – the world’s largest voluntary effort on plastic waste and pollution, now uniting over 1,200 businesses representing 20% of the global plastic packaging market. In 2025, we endorsed both the 2030 Global Commitment and the Plastics Agenda for Business, calling for whole-industry action, collaboration and regulations to accelerate progress at scale.

We are also members of the Consumer Goods Forum Plastic Waste Coalition of Action, which brings together the biggest players in our industry to collaborate on progress towards a circular economy for plastic packaging. We contributed to the Consumer Goods Forum’s Golden Design Rules for optimal plastics design, production and recycling.

Across the world, we’re members of Plastics Pact Network. These pacts bring together national governments, NGOs and business as they join forces to avoid plastic waste across their value chains.

We’re also contributing to the Circulate Capital Ocean Fund (CCOF), managed by Circulate Capital, to support better investment and infrastructure in South and South East Asia, as well as Latin America, where ocean plastic pollution is particularly acute. Together with other major consumer goods and beverage companies, collectively we are investing USD $100 million in waste collection, management and recycling infrastructure, with a focus on India, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Colombia.

Advocating for harmonised global plastics regulations

Tackling plastic pollution needs big interventions at every point in the plastics system, from new technology and manufacturing innovation, to better recycling and collection infrastructure. We need businesses and governments to work together, across national boundaries, to create a coordinated response that deals with the problem both at source and at scale.

That’s why we joined and co-chaired the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty – an advocacy group convened by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) – to support the development of an ambitious and effective treaty alongside more than 250 other brand owners, retailers, financial institutions, packaging producers and waste management companies.

Read more about the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty.

Our thoughts on the latest negotiations for harmonised regulations on plastics

Find out more about the outcome of the latest UN plastics treaty talks.