{"id":77194,"date":"2025-07-21T09:39:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T07:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=77194"},"modified":"2026-02-26T22:35:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T21:35:52","slug":"89-billion-and-counting-unilevers-out-of-control-plastic-sachet-habit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/77194\/89-billion-and-counting-unilevers-out-of-control-plastic-sachet-habit\/","title":{"rendered":"89 billion and counting: Unilever&#8217;s out of control plastic sachet habit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In November 2023, Greenpeace UK released a powerful <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2023\/11\/6cf67ce7-unilever-uncovered.pdf?_gl=1*r312by*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTA2NjIxODI4OS4xNzUyNDkxOTA4*_ga_94MRTN8HG4*czE3NTI0OTE5MDgkbzEkZzAkdDE3NTI0OTE5MDgkajYwJGwwJGg1MDg5MDM4MzY\">report<\/a> calling out Unilever and their Dove brand for hypocrisy \u2014 denouncing toxic beauty standards while perpetuating environmental racism. It exposed Unilever as the world\u2019s biggest corporate seller of plastic sachets and revealed that the consumer giant sells a whopping 1,700 plastic sachets around the world every single second.\u00a0 That\u2019s enough sachets sold per year to wrap around the Earth 100 times if you line them up side by side.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Toxic Influence: The Dark Side of Dove\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dPhKzGx1Sc0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n<p>These tiny plastic sachets have been hugely controversial for decades because of the widespread harm and destruction they cause, especially in Global South countries without adequate waste infrastructure. Because they are made from a multi-layered mix of plastics and other materials, and are usually small in size, they are valueless to recyclers and largely not collected. Instead, they either end up polluting rivers and oceans, or used as fuel on open fires or cement kilns, releasing toxic chemicals into the air as they burn. In Indonesia, sachet waste makes up 16% of all plastic waste and in an audit of efforts to remove the plastic waste clogging rivers in Bali, Unilever was found to be the largest source of sachet pollution.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/07\/de35474f-gp0stxul9.jpg\" title=\"Plastic Waste Investigation in the Philippines. \u00a9 Jilson Tiu \/ Greenpeace\" alt=\"Plastic Waste Investigation in the Philippines. \u00a9 Jilson Tiu \/ Greenpeace\" class=\"wp-image-77195\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/07\/de35474f-gp0stxul9.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/07\/de35474f-gp0stxul9-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/07\/de35474f-gp0stxul9-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/07\/de35474f-gp0stxul9-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/07\/de35474f-gp0stxul9-510x340.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Riverside trash accumulated at the shores connected to Manila bay. The plastic trash is so dense, it formed a walkable moat, making it hard for the fishermen to move their boats. Tangos, Navotas.<div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Jilson Tiu \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>Since the campaign launch, over a million people around the world have taken online and offline action demanding that Dove and Unilever ditch plastic sachets and invest in reuse and refill. They have emailed Unilever\u2019s CEOs, marked Dove and Unilever products in stores with anti-plastic pollution stickers, and taken actions that deliver messages directly to senior staff at both national and global Unilever HQs. In parallel, Greenpeace offices have been working with regional governments and allies to prove the effectiveness of reuse and refill-based alternatives to sachets, with the bigger goal of advocating for wider changes. Greenpeace Philippines\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/philippines\/act\/plastic-free-future\/reuse-and-refill\/\">Kuha sa Tingi project<\/a>, which provides people in Manila\u00a0 with affordable, accessible and environmentally friendly alternatives to single-use plastic sachets, provides a strong case for how refill and reuse systems can be integrated into sari-sari stores (neighbourhood shops) and still be economically sustainable.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/07\/9ba9fcc5-gp0su299w.jpg\" title=\"Activists Shut Down Unilever HQ in Plastic Pollution Protest in London. \u00a9 Kristian Buus \/ Greenpeace\" alt=\"Activists Shut Down Unilever HQ in Plastic Pollution Protest in London. \u00a9 Kristian Buus \/ Greenpeace\" class=\"wp-image-77196\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/07\/9ba9fcc5-gp0su299w.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/07\/9ba9fcc5-gp0su299w-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/07\/9ba9fcc5-gp0su299w-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/07\/9ba9fcc5-gp0su299w-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/07\/9ba9fcc5-gp0su299w-510x340.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Greenpeace UK activists shut down Unilever\u2019s HQ in Central London following the firm\u2019s ongoing failure to tackle their overwhelming plastic pollution and its recent sustainability rollback. \nActivists are blockading the entrances to Unilever House, locking themselves onto barricades made of  giant Dove products and a subverted \u2018Dead Dove\u2019 version of their logo. \nClimbers are securing a huge 13 x 8 metre canvas to the front of the building. The artwork displays a powerful advertising subversion featuring a young girl peeling back Dove\u2019s iconic \u2018Real Beauty\u2019 branding to reveal real examples of the toxic plastic waste churned out by the brand.<\/figcaption><figcaption><div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Kristian Buus \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>Some things have shifted as a result of all of this focused effort. Unilever has now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unilever.com\/news\/news-search\/2024\/a-meaningful-un-treaty-to-end-plastic-pollution-edges-closer\/\">put its weight behind the Global Plastics Treaty delivering reductions in plastic production<\/a>. This display of support is an essential move in our fight for tackling the plastics problem \u2014 especially because petrochemical companies have been blocking efforts to curb plastic production. Unilever is also currently exploring multi-company reuse focused projects in places like Indonesia and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theconsumergoodsforum.com\/news_updates\/the-cgf-and-reposit-invite-consumer-goods-industry-to-join-city-wide-reusable-packaging-pilot-in-ottawa\/\">Canada<\/a> that can work at scale, including ones that could replace sachets entirely.<\/p>\n\n<p>Sadly, we still have ZERO action on the crucial call to urgently ditch plastic sachets.<\/p>\n\n<p>We decided to calculate what this meant in terms of real world impact. Our analysis concludes that in the 608 days since our campaign launch, Unilever has sold a mind melting additional 89 billion plastic sachets (89,303,040,000) worldwide.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>How many people have gotten sick from the&nbsp; air pollution arising from these plastic sachets being burned? How many children have suffered from malaria after they <a href=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/tearfund\/image\/fetch\/https:\/\/learn.tearfund.org\/-\/media\/learn\/resources\/policy-reports\/2022\/2022-tearfund-briefingpaper-plasticpollutionpoverty-en.pdf\">blocked waste water drains<\/a>? How many rivers, streams and oceans have these sachets polluted, and how many more creatures have been impacted? That is impossible to quantify.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"899\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/07\/e6afc2c1-gp0stxulc.jpg\" title=\"Plastic Waste Investigation in the Philippines. \u00a9 Jilson Tiu \/ Greenpeace\" alt=\"Plastic Waste Investigation in the Philippines. \u00a9 Jilson Tiu \/ Greenpeace\" class=\"wp-image-77197\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/07\/e6afc2c1-gp0stxulc.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/07\/e6afc2c1-gp0stxulc-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/07\/e6afc2c1-gp0stxulc-1024x767.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/07\/e6afc2c1-gp0stxulc-768x575.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2025\/07\/e6afc2c1-gp0stxulc-454x340.jpg 454w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Riverside trash accumulated at the shores connected to Manila bay. The plastic trash is so dense, it formed a walkable moat, making it hard for the fishermen to move their boats. Tangos, Navotas.<div class=\"credit icon-left\"> \u00a9 Jilson Tiu \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=S7aBXPvMPE0\">2019, Unilever\u2019s then President for Global Food &amp; Refreshments referred to multi-layer plastic (which includes sachets) as \u2018evil\u2019<\/a>. Since then, they have sold about 321 billion more.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>During our first meeting with Unilever back in 2017, we were told that the company was prioritising tackling sachet pollution \u2014 and yet, they continued to produce billions of these sachets.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p>How is it that we keep seeing the same pattern: recognize that there is a problem, understand public demand for change, and then consistently fail to take meaningful action?<\/p>\n\n<p>For a company that likes to present itself as a leader on sustainability, Unilever\u2019s continued reliance on sachets raises a serious question to their commitment to a greener future. It\u2019s past time for them to step up and take action.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\t\t\t<section\n\t\t\tclass=\"boxout post-21155 \"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\tdata-ga-category=\"Take Action Boxout\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-ga-action=\"Image\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-ga-label=\"n\/a\"\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"cover-card-overlay\"\n\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/act\/lets-end-the-age-of-plastic\/\" \n\t\t\t><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2019\/03\/530878d8-gp0stt3fm-1024x683.jpg\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsrcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2019\/03\/530878d8-gp0stt3fm-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2019\/03\/530878d8-gp0stt3fm-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2019\/03\/530878d8-gp0stt3fm-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2019\/03\/530878d8-gp0stt3fm-510x340.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2019\/03\/530878d8-gp0stt3fm.jpg 1200w\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 358px, (min-width: 780px) 313px, 88px\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\talt=\"Plastic Waste in Verde Island, Philippines. \u00a9 Noel Guevara \/ Greenpeace\" title=\"Plastic Waste in Verde Island, Philippines. \u00a9 Noel Guevara \/ Greenpeace\"\n\t\t\t\t\/>\n            \t\t\t<div class=\"boxout-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"boxout-heading medium\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-ga-category=\"Take Action Boxout\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-ga-action=\"Title\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-ga-label=\"n\/a\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/act\/lets-end-the-age-of-plastic\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tLet\u2019s end the age of plastic!\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"boxout-excerpt\">Ask world leaders to support Global Plastic Treaty so that we can finally turn off the tap and end the age of plastic.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t                                    <a\n                        class=\"btn btn-primary\"\n                        data-ga-category=\"Take Action Boxout\"\n                        data-ga-action=\"Call to Action\"\n                        data-ga-label=\"n\/a\"\n                        href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/act\/lets-end-the-age-of-plastic\/\"\n                        \n                    >\n                        Take action\n                    <\/a>\n                \t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t\n<p><em>Louise Edge is a Corporate Strategist for the Plastic Free Future Campaign at Greenpeace UK.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A report by Greenpeace UK in 2023 exposed Unilever as the world\u2019s biggest corporate seller of plastic sachets and revealed that the consumer giant sells a whopping 1,700 plastic sachets around the world every single second.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":77195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"Plastic Free Future","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"Plastics","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[69,70],"tags":[134],"p4-page-type":[59],"class_list":["post-77194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","category-nature","tag-plastics","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77194"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77225,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77194\/revisions\/77225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77194"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=77194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}