Top 10 Global Companies Addressing Plastic Pollution

Did you know that 90% of companies are not on track to achieve their plastic waste reduction goals? This is a key finding from the 2022 edition of the Plastic Promises Report compiled and published by Ubuntoo. 

Companies around the world are making bold commitments to reduce or eliminate their single-use plastic waste. One example of this is The Ellen MacArthur Foundation's New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, which has enrolled over 500 businesses, governments, and other organizations. Signatories of the commitment have set goals for 2025 and 2030 to help achieve a circular economy for plastic. Even companies that are not signatories to this initiative are making plastic sustainability announcements of their own.  

There is a need for an objective comparison of the strength of the ambitions with the momentum of the actions of all these companies. Using our proprietary methodology, Ubuntoo has quantified the scale and scope of plastic commitments for over 150 companies around the world that have annual revenues above 1 billion USD. We are pleased to announce the launch of our second annual report - the Plastics Promises 2022 Edition. In this report, we assess each company’s packaging goals, track progress over time, and compare them with other companies across 20 different industries.  

Our findings indicate that: 

• 7 out of the Top 10 companies most actively addressing plastic pollution are based in Europe 
• The top 3 industries most actively addressing plastic pollution are: Household Products, Alcoholic Beverages, and Cosmetics 
• Only 10% of companies are on track or ahead of their plastic goals

The Ubuntoo team has researched and compiled hundreds of datasets from various publicly available sources, including the sustainability reports published by these companies, to present a standardized scorecard of company commitments to end plastic waste.  

Companies were scored on a scale of 0 to 5 (0 being low ambition and/or action, 5 being high ambition and/or action) in four goal categories: packaging recyclability, commitment to plastic reduction, use of recycled content, and recovery/collection initiatives. By separating company goals into these four categories, our measurement system enables us to see exactly where companies are lacking in ambition or action in comparison with other companies, and to see what actions and goals high achievers are implementing to reach their targets.  

Contact us to learn more about the Plastic Promises report and to see where your company stands against your peers and industry best in class.