This year NLPC submitted its first two shareholder proposals on the subject of plastics packaging, in response to the flimsy narrative promoted by progressive activists that there’s a “plastics pollution crisis” and that companies must promote a “circular economy,” in which they sharply increase the amount of recycled plastic material contained in the packaging they use to sell new products.
Like the “Net Zero” unicorn fantasy they have peddled with regard to carbon dioxide emissions, which many companies have now figured out is foolhardy, so also did the Left try to hoodwink Corporate America into believing that “Zero Waste” is an achievable goal by endlessly recycling everything.
Ellen MacArthur, yacht racer/PHOTO: Ellen MacArthur Foundation
NLPC‘s proposals at Colgate-Palmolive and Walmart called upon the companies to revisit their packaging policies and, as opposed to their current approach to mindlessly align their practices with the credibility-free agenda of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation — established by a yacht-racing high school graduate — that they instead employ serious chemistry, science and economic analysis to determine the various materials they use to package the goods they sell.
Now we have learned that major supporters of one of the MacArthur Foundation’s plastics activism groups, the U.S. Plastics Pact, are quitting. Among them are Walmart, Mondelez International (maker of Oreos and other Nabisco-brand snacks), Mars and Nestle. Industry publication Packaging Dive reported the development and even mentioned NLPC’s proposal at Walmart:
Walmart, the largest retailer in the U.S., is no longer participating with the U.S. Plastics Pact. Mondelēz, Mars, Nestlé and L’Oréal USA are also among the previous members that appear to have recently stepped away from the group, per an archived version of USPP’s website. Those companies did not comment…
The U.S. Plastics Pact launched in 2020 as part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s global network of plastics pacts with some 60 activators, including those aforementioned companies that have recently left. In aligning with the U.S. Plastics Pact, participants committed to four 2025 packaging targets…
Walmart is one of the subjects of a recent campaign by the the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative nonprofit group focused on research and legal action, regarding corporate plastic packaging policies. NLPC sponsored a shareholder proposal calling on the company to reexamine policies. Walmart’s annual meeting is June 5.
In addition to the 500-word proposals, NLPC also circulated to investors who hold millions of shares a 14-page report each for Colgate-Palmolive and Walmart that further exposed the weaknesses of the MacArthur Foundation’s ideas and advocacy, and spelled out why infusing more recycled content into companies’ supply chains only increases costs and pollution (yes!) with no environmental benefit.
That these major companies are already recognizing the futility of pursuing a “circular economy” and are bailing out on plastics alarmism speaks volumes. It took them a couple decades to figure out Net Zero and climate alarmism were frivolous, so maybe the timeline of coming to understand reality is getting shorter.
