Plastikan blues

It was particularly interesting to read the Reuters report on the sachet plague that’s being unleashed upon several developing countries, including ours, titled “Unilever’s Plastic Playbook”.

That report was well researched, and it documented how Unilever has publicly proclaimed its advocacy against plastic waste, but despite the lip service, it still continuously churns out sachets to the lower-income countries that depend on these small packets. Of course, it needs no further explanation why Unilever would continue making and selling sachets (profit, profit, profit).

Not only that, but Unilever was privately lobbying, in several countries, against laws that would ban plastic use. This despite its chief executive speechifying on how plastic is the enemy (if that’s not what we call “plastic,” I don’t know what is).

What was fascinating for me was how many times Reuters gave Unilever chances to comment and explain on numerous facets of its investigative report, but Unilever just didn’t take up those chances. It didn’t grab the opportunities to explain its side. No attempt to explicate, not a peep. What are we to make of that silence?

For example, when Sri Lankan environment official Aniline Jasinghe reportedly accused Unilever of deceiving the country, Unilever didn’t comment. Jasinghe claimed that Unilever had approached the Sri Lankan government and urged them not to ban plastic sachets, saying the poor sector was dependent on these sachets.

Further, even when Sri Lanka had finally done a little something about the ubiquitous sachets, and imposed a limit, Unilever had continued marketing sachets that skirted that limit, and had to be threatened with legal action about it. Yet when contacted for comment, Unilever didn’t respond to these bombshell revelations.

When asked about how many plastic sachets it manufactures and sells globally, the London-based Unilever refused to disclose just how many billions it was churning out upon our planet (Reuters says Unilever had admitted that in 2012 alone, they produced the gob-smacking amount of 40 billion sachets).

When asked whether its much-publicized recycling or reduction projects had indeed been effective, again, Unilever did not respond. Especially relevant was one project in Sri Lanka where its efforts reportedly included “providing vending machines where customers can refill reusable bottles with products such as liquid dish soap and laundry detergent.” Unilever didn’t answer questions on just how many countries this project had been launched, and just exactly how many machines it had deployed.

You would think that, if Unilever was so proud of its green efforts, it would have kept track of the precise number of these machines, and then trumpet those numbers to remind us how saintly it is. But Reuters checked Metro Manila, where Unilever supposedly launched refilling stations in 2019. Today, those units are gone. Nada. Nowhere to be found. When Unilever was asked on their whereabouts “Unilever declined to comment” (can’t even answer questions on location? Should have been easy to find, right?).

And still on their Philippine presence --Reuters pointed to the efforts made by Unilever to lobby Senator Cynthia Villar, and how a proposed bill banning plastic sachets ended up deleting the ban when it was passed. When asked about the lobbying efforts exerted with Madame Senator, Unilever didn’t answer those questions.

Let’s mull on that silence while looking out at our clogged rivers, and reflect on the flotsam and jetsam winking back at us from the riverbanks.

Meanwhile, in India, another country subject of the report that’s choking from plastic waste, with cows and elephants chowing on nutrilicious plastic (not), Reuters reported that Unilever “declined to say how much it spends on its plastic waste-reduction projects or to state its position on India’s plastic waste rules.”

Tough, because it’s been just announced in the world press that India finally issued a ban on single-use plastics. Starting this month of July, all sachets using plastic are reportedly banned (I say reportedly, because some news articles quote qualifiers that a sneaky plastics manufacturer could take advantage of).

How India’s ban plays out in real day-to-day life, and whether alternatives are successfully found for plastic packaging, remains to be seen. But this seems cause to celebrate, right?

Well, that is, unless you’re Unilever.