Danone to face French court over plastic ‘megapollution’

Three environmental groups are filing a lawsuit against Paris-based multinational food-products corporation Danone over its global plastic pollution under the French Duty of Vigilance law that was introduced in 2017. Client Earth, Surfrider Foundation Europe and Zero Waste France have filed the lawsuit against the French company, which has annual sales of more than €24bn, in the Paris Tribunal Judiciaire, the nation’s highest court. The Duty of Vigilance law applies to French companies with more than 5,000 employees in their direct or indirect French-based subsidiaries, and those with more than 10,000 employees including direct and indirect subsidiaries globally. The three environmental groups argue that Danone is not doing enough to reduce its plastic footprint and therefore failing to live up to its duties under the law. The next steps in the court case will be determined by a judge in an initial hearing in the next couple of months. Client Earth explains that the groups formally put Danone on notice back in September and gave the company the opportunity to rectify its “vigilance plan”. The company replied to the formal notice letter, but the three NGOs argue the response was insufficient and did not adequately address their demands. “Danone’s ‘vigilance plan’ is completely silent on plastics. Yet the company is among the top 10 biggest plastic polluters globally. In 2021 Danone used more than 750,000 tonnes of plastics for its packaging – the equivalent of almost 75 Eiffel towers – which is even more than it did in 2020,” said Client Earth. Plastics are present throughout Danone’s value chain, with a huge amount used to package its products, including water bottles and yoghurt pots. Danone owns well-known brands such as Evian, Volvic and Activia. Its products are sold in more than 120 countries. Client Earth said that the Paris-based group also has a large presence in countries “on the receiving end of the western world’s plastic excesses, putting further strain on their waste management facilities, such as Tunisia, Turkey and Indonesia” It claims that Danone has topped the plastic polluter ranking in Indonesia for the last three years based on the annual brand audit report produced by the group Break Free From Plastic. ClientEarth plastics lawyer Rosa Pritchard said: “Danone is trudging ahead without a serious plan to deal with plastics, despite clear concern from climate and health experts and consumers, and a legal obligation to face up to the issue.” She added: “It continues to rely on single-use plastic packaging in the hope that recycling will miraculously deal with the flood of plastics it puts on the market. But recycling is a limited solution as only 9% of plastics ever made have been recycled. It’s unrealistic for food giants like Danone to pretend recycling is the magic bullet. “It’s 2023 and high time Danone started implementing proper solutions such as refill and reuse beyond a few pilots to give consumers real access to a sustainable model. It needs to deplastify now,” Pritchard continued. Solutions for reducing plastic in the food sector include eliminating unnecessary packaging, rethinking product design and shifting to reusable/refillable packaging models. Pritchard added: “The momentum around plastics litigation has been building fast – and it’s only the beginning. Companies across the plastics value chain, from fossil fuels companies to consumer goods giants and waste management companies, should be on high alert."

Danone to face French court over plastic ‘megapollution’

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