A new Greenpeace report ranks supermarkets on their efforts to eliminate single-use plastics.

Malaysia
Greenpeace Malaysia has been conducting a field investigation on the broken system of recycling and how it impacts Malaysian society. The findings were shocking: a new ‘dump site’ of plastic waste from more than 19 countries — most of them are developed countries. The investigation found illegal practices, and blatant violations causing environmental pollution as well as harming people’s health conditions.

Since China banned plastic waste imports in January 2018, countries in Southeast Asia – particularly Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia – have accepted an increased amount of plastic waste. Between January and July 2018 alone, Malaysia imported 754,000 metric tonnes of plastic — the weight of approximately 100,000 large elephants. It came from countries like the United States, Japan, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Finland, France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

To view the report, click here

Packaging Away the Planet evaluates 20 large U.S. grocery retailers for the first time on their efforts to eliminate single-use plastics.

Across the board, supermarkets are failing to adequately address the plastic pollution crisis they are contributing to.

ALDI, The Kroger Co., and Albertsons Companies ranked the highest, while Meijer, Wakefern, and H-E-B ranked the worst. None of the 20 profiled retailers achieved a passing score and none of the profiled retailers have ambitious, comprehensive commitments commensurate with the scale of the plastic pollution crisis.

Plastic is killing whales, seabirds, and turtles. It is overwhelming communities and impacting human health. Globally, more than 90% of all plastics ever produced have not been recycled, and six times more plastic waste is burned in the U.S. than is recycled.

As policy makers and the public grow increasingly concerned about plastic pollution, this is the moment for retailers to take a stand. Will U.S. retailers lead in developing innovative alternatives to wasteful single-use packaging, or continue to make current and future generations pay the price for their complacency?

Find out if your supermarket is starting to take responsibility for its role in this crisis. Check out the scorecard and report below.  

To read the full report, click here.

To view the scorecard, click here.