HUL declares war on plastic with cardboard deodorant and bamboo toothbrush

Unilever is tying up with plastic collectors and recyclers in all developed countries and in large developing markets like India.

Business Standard : When Hindustan Unilever (HUL) decided to put a curve on its best-selling Pond’s talc pack some time back, its patrons may have assumed the move was aimed at breaking the monotony of the cylindrical shape used for decades. While breaking the boredom was one of the reasons, the slight curve at the belly of Pond’s talc packs allowed the consumer goods giant to save one-third of the plastic that goes into each pack.

More recently, its distributors found that HUL had removed the plastic packaging layer inside the cartons of the best-selling Dove soaps. Dove soap packs now lay naked inside the carton boxes. The move has helped the local arm of the British-Dutch multinational cut down on single-use plastic.

While these measures started some time ago, HUL’s parent company, Unilever, has now launched a concerted effort to curb its use of plastic globally. As the voices against plastic waste get louder, the company aims to cut the use of virgin plastic by half by 2025. It also wants to collect and process more plastic packs than it can consume in seven years.

Unilever is tying up with plastic collectors and recyclers in all developed countries and in large developing markets like India. Through them, it has committed itself to collect and processing around 600,000 tonnes of plastic annually.

However, at the heart of Unilever’s bold commitment lies its design efficiency. It hopes to slash its use of plastic from 700,000 tonnes annually to 100,000 tonnes by changing the design and packaging of its products.

According to Alan Jope, chief executive officer, Unilever, the design is the starting point of its project. “Reducing the amount of plastic we use and then making sure that what we do use increasingly comes from recycled sources is the goal. We are also committed to ensuring all our plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable, or compostable. This demands a fundamental rethink in our approach to our packaging and products. It requires us to introduce new and innovative packaging materials and scale up new business models, like reuse and refill formats, at an unprecedented speed and intensity,” said Jope.

Globally, the firm has reduced its plastic waste by a third since 2010. According to the company, through its ‘Less Plastic’ initiative, Unilever has explored new ways of packaging and delivering products — including concentrates, such as its new Cif eco refill, which eliminates 75 per cent of plastic.

India set to outlaw six single-use plastic products on October 2: Report

India lacks an organised system for management of plastic waste, leading to widespread littering across its towns and cities.

India is set to impose a nationwide ban on plastic bags, cups and straws on October 2, officials said, in its most sweeping measure yet to stamp out single-use plastics from cities and villages that rank among the world's most polluted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is leading efforts to scrap such plastics by 2022, is set to launch the campaign with a ban on as many as six items on October 2, the birth anniversary of independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, two officials said.

These include plastic bags, cups, plates, small bottles, straws and certain types of sachets, said the officials, who asked not to be identified, in line with government policy.

"The ban will be comprehensive and will cover manufacturing, usage and import of such items," one official said.

India's environment and housing ministries, the two main ministries leading the drive, did not respond to emails from Reuters to seek comment.

In an Independence Day speech on August 15, Modi had urged people and government agencies to "take the first big step" on October 2 towards freeing India of single-use plastic.

Concerns are growing worldwide about plastic pollution, with a particular focus on the oceans, where nearly 50% of single-use plastic products end up, killing marine life and entering the human food chain, studies show.

The European Union plans to ban single-use plastic items such as straws, forks, knives and cotton buds by 2021.

China's commercial hub of Shanghai is gradually reining in use of single-use plastics in catering, and its island province of Hainan has already vowed to completely eliminate single-use plastic by 2025.

India lacks an organised system for management of plastic waste, leading to widespread littering across its towns and cities.

The ban on the first six items of single-use plastics will clip 5% to 10% from India's annual consumption of about 14 million tonnes of plastic, the first official said.

Business Standard

CM Adityanath announces plastic ban in Uttar Pradesh from July 15: Report

The UP government's order comes after the Maharashtra government's state-wide ban on the use of plastic items.

Plastic Ban : After Maharashtra, the Uttar Pradesh government has banned the use of several plastic products, news agency ANI reported on Friday.


"We have issued an order to ban the use of plastic across the state from July 15," Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was quoted as saying by ANI. "After July 15, plastic cups, glasses, and polythene should not be used," said Adityanath, adding, "For this, we should all work together."


The UP government's order comes after the Maharashtra government's state-wide ban on the use of plastic items, including carry-bags and thermocol, came into effect from June 23.


Subsequently, Maharashtra eased its ban against single-use plastic, following what a Reuters report said was intense lobbying by multinational companies and plastic industry bodies for softer rules and extensions.

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Maharashtra govt softens plastic ban after industry lobbying

The government banned the sale of plastic bottles containing drinking water less under 200 millilitres.

Plastic Ban : Maharashtra has eased a ban against single-use plastic, just over a week after it was imposed, following what sources said was intense lobbying by multinational companies and plastic industry bodies for softer rules and extensions.

Maharashtra, home to India's financial capital of Mumbai, has allowed e-commerce companies to use plastic packaging for three more months, according to a government order dated June 30, which was published on Tuesday.

During these three months, e-commerce firms will have to come up with a buyback plan to collect used plastic packaging material, ensure its recycling and disposal as well as source alternative packaging material.

The ban, which came into effect on June 23, had threatened a sharp rise in costs for retailers, beverage makers and sellers of bottled water, among other companies that rely on plastic for packaging.

Representatives of companies including Amazon, H&M, Pepsi and Coca-Cola, as well as plastic lobby groups, met Maharashtra government officials days before the ban, urging them to implement the rule in phases and relax some norms, Reuters quoted four sources as saying on Friday.

A senior government official, who was involved in the talks and did not wish to be identified due to government rules, said changes to the ban had been made after considering the industry demands.

Maharashtra's top environment official Anil Diggikar did not answer calls or texts seeking comment.

In its latest order, the government banned the sale of plastic bottles containing drinking water less under 200 millilitres. It also did not specify a buyback price for empty bottles used for selling beverages other than water, a move that could potentially help soft drink makers.

Amazon, Pepsi and Coca-Cola declined to comment on the modifications to the ban. H&M did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The latest rules also exempt the use of plastic packaging of medical equipment and drugs.

Plastic could be used for wrapping products by manufacturers, if the material used was thicker than 50 microns, comprised at least 20 percent recyclable material and had the manufacturer's details and buyback price printed on it, the order said.

Maharashtra's move to ban plastic, the first such broad action against the material by an Indian state, comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushes a plan to completely end the use of single-use plastic in India by 2022.

Maharashtra govt's move to ban use of plastic puts RIL in recycle mode

Company creating platform for building corpus and setting up full-fledged sustainability team.

Plastic Ban : The Maharashtra government’s decision in March to partially ban the use of plastic has put the country’s largest polymer producer in recycle mode. The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) is now creating a platform for recycling, building a corpus and setting up a full-fledged sustainability team.


“The ban from Maharashtra was more of a wake-up call for the industry,” said Vipul Shah, chief operating officer of RIL's petrochemicals business. RIL had homework in place over the last couple of years. The ban accelerated the process, he added.


“There was earlier a small team of two to three people working on a smaller project like bottle recycling. We now have a full-fledged department for sustainability of seven to eight people working full time and another 10-12 moonlighting,” Shah added.


RIL is the country’s largest producer of polymer, the main raw material required for making plastic items. Shah did not share details on how much of the company’s polymer production is consumed through plastic bags and other items banned in the state.


“The exposure to banned items is minimal, less than three per cent maybe. It is more likely to affect small enterprises. As for RIL, there are other segments to cater to,” said a person with direct knowledge of the business.


Part of the sustainability team’s job is to develop an extended producer responsibility (EPR) platform for the industry. “Being the largest polymer producer, we want to design something that is adaptable to India and not a copy from Europe. We want to design the whole chain from segregation, collection, secondary segregation, recycling, generating energy and oil,” Shah added.


The corpus, he said, would be funded through RIL’s petrochemicals business, not as part of its corporate social responsibility programme.

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On Environment Day, Tamil Nadu announces ban on plastic items from 2019

The ban is brought under an environment protection act of 1986 and it would come into effect from January 1, 2019.

The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday announced banning use of plastic items, including non-biodegradable bags, from January 2019 in the interest of the environment and to "gift a plastic-free" state to future generations.
Chief Minister K Palaniswami's announcement in the state assembly coincided with International Environment Day.


Late chief minister J Jayalalithaa had earlier constituted an expert panel on the issue that had suggested banning plastic products, including bags, plates and cups, and recommended that traditional items such as plantain leaves and plates made of palm leaves be used, Palaniswami said.
The chief minister said non-biodegradable plastic products, mainly polythene covers affect the environment, impeding water flow.
Its burning also causes problems, he said, adding that plastic products contributed to various forms of pollution-- air, land and water.


"Considering the damage caused by plastic, and to ensure this is not left behind for future generations, the Amma government has decided to ban non-biodegradable plastic covers, plates, cups, water packets, straws and bags," he said.
However, plastic sachets used to pack milk, curd and oil, besides those used to wrap medical products, will be exempted from the ban, Palaniswami said.


The ban is brought under an environment protection act of 1986 and it would come into effect from January 1, 2019, so as to allow people to change over to using paper bags and other products made out of paper as substitutes to the plastic items facing ban, he said.


Palaniswami recalled that people's participation in the past for a rainwater harvesting scheme introduced by Jayalalithaa had resulted in success, as it had led to better groundwater resources.



"Similarly, with the cooperation and contribution of all, let us gift a plastic-free Tamil Nadu for the future generations of the state," he added.