FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

MEDIA CONTACT: Stefanie Spear, sspear@asyousow.org, 216-387-1609

BERKELEY, CA—MAY 31, 2023—As nearly 200 countries meet in Paris to negotiate a binding global plastics treaty, investors of parent companies to KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King, and others have sent a message in strong support of exploring reusable packaging at two recent annual meetings. The votes are the result of shareholder resolutions filed by As You Sow at Yum! Brands and Restaurant Brands International (RBI) urging the companies to report on evaluating how to dramatically reduce the amount of plastic used in packaging through transition to reusable alternatives to reduce risks related to plastic pollution. As You Sow withdrew a similar proposal at McDonald’s Corporation earlier this year after the company pledged to produce the requested report. 

The reusables resolution received the support of 36.9% of investors at Yum! Brands, parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, representing more than $10.6 billion in shares. At RBI, parent company of Burger King, Tim Hortons, and Popeyes, the resolution received 36.8% overall vote, representing more than $10.2 billion in shares. 

This strong display of support for reusables by investors also comes amidst anti-reusables advocacy by corporations to the proposed revisions to the European Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive. McDonald’s, Yum! Brands, and other companies have been heavily criticized for conducting “the largest scale lobbying effort” seen in the European Parliament. The waste directive proposes 10% reusable containers and 20% reusable beverage packaging in restaurants and cafes by 2030 and greater amounts by 2040.

“Companies must end the debate on IF reusables should become part of permanent operations and start talking about HOW reusable operations will be implemented,” said Kelly McBee, circular economy senior coordinator at As You Sow. “We expect McDonald’s to take this productive approach in their report, anticipated in Q2 2024, and urge Yum! Brands and RBI to take similar proactive measures following this strong call by investors to transition packaging from disposables to reusables.”

Reusable packaging is that which is designed to be durable and refillable as part of a circular economy whereby resources are kept in use as long as possible to promote resource sustainability and regeneration. Reusables are identified in the groundbreaking Breaking the Plastic Wave report as one of eight complementary interventions that must be implemented to achieve an 80% cut in plastic pollution by 2040.

In 2022, As You Sow withdrew two similar resolutions with Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo in exchange for new goals on reusables. Coca-Cola Co. has announced the largest corporate goal for reusable packaging, pledging to deliver 25% of beverages by volume in reusables or refillables by 2030. PepsiCo followed suit shortly thereafter with the second-largest corporate reusables goal, committing to deliver 20% of beverages in reusables by 2030. Starbucks has the most ambitious on-site dining goal for reusables, with a commitment to facilitate the use of personal reusable mugs at all U.S. dine-in and drive-through locations by the end of this year.

As You Sow’s work to engage companies on plastic packaging reduction has been catalyzed by the aforementioned Breaking the Plastic Wave report by Systemiq and Pew Charitable Trusts, which said immediate and sustained new corporate commitments throughout the plastics value chain are needed, including action to reduce growth in plastic demand by at least 1/3 and transition to new zero-waste product delivery models, such as reusables.

# # #

As You Sow is the nation’s leading shareholder representative with a 30-year track record promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility and advancing values-aligned investing. Its issue areas include climate change, ocean plastics, pesticides, racial justice, workplace diversity, and executive compensation. Click here for As You Sow’s shareholder resolution tracker.