New report shows ‘usual suspect’ corporations still top sachet producer list

The report showed that many of the companies that topped this sachet-focused list have previously been identified as top plastic polluters in global Brand Audits, dating back to 2017 and featuring a wider array of SUP packing. These companies are aware of the difficulties in handling sachet waste and have even pledged to make their plastic packaging reusable, recycled, or compostable by 2025. However, their continued reliance on sachets perpetuates pollution, posing threats to both human health and the environment. In a duplicitous move, some corporations also opt for false solutions, such as burning sachets as fuel for various industries, further exacerbating the issue.

The ongoing struggle with sachet waste leads to sachets ending up in landfills, rivers, and beaches; harming ecosystems, wildlife, and ultimately, human health and livelihoods. Moreover, sachet disposal, including burning for industrial purposes, emits toxic pollutants, poses health risks to nearby communities, and their breakdown results in harmful microplastics. Sachets also perpetuate the cycle of fossil fuel extraction and exacerbate the climate crisis.

Given the continued prevalence of sachets in consumer goods, and the fact that the same companies are perpetuating our dependence on single-use plastic packaging, Greenpeace believes the Philippine government must treat this as an urgent issue and enact a national ban on sachets and other SUPs, through any of the following measures: 1) ensuring the Extended Producer Responsibility Act of 2022 focuses on waste avoidance and reduction, which would entail a ban on SUPs; 2) including sachets in the list of non-environmentally acceptable products (NEAP) under Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 (RA 9003), which would mean sachets must be banned, or; 3) passing and implementing a law banning SUPs, including sachets, at a national level.

BFFP also issued the following calls on fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) corporations:

1. Corporations must take immediate action to phase out or quit sachets, to effectively address the environmental, social, and economic impacts of these single-use plastics.

2. Reveal their plastic use by providing public data on the type and quantity of packaging used in different markets, and the chemicals in that packaging.

3. End support for false solutions such as burning plastic and chemical recycling. Sending sachets and other plastic packaging to cement kilns isn’t recycling.

4. Redesign business models away from single-use sachets and other single-use packaging of any type – including novel materials such as bio-based or compostable plastics.

5. Invest in accessible, affordable reuse, refill, or packaging-free product delivery systems in all markets, while ensuring a just transition for all relevant workers.

Furthermore, Greenpeace, BFFP, and other environmental groups are pushing for a Global Plastics Treaty that would phase down SUP production across the world, in the interest of Global South countries that are disproportionately affected by the impacts of plastic communities. The treaty is currently undergoing negotiations until November 2024. The groups are calling on the Philippine government to side with our communities struggling with plastic pollution, and join the demand for a stronger global treaty that would drastically reduce and eventually eliminate the production of sachets and other SUPs.

Access the 2023 Sachet Brand Audit report.