Constellation Brands released vote totals showing that approximately 25% of shareholders voted in support of stronger emissions goals and a transition towards a circular economy for packaging, two primary and urgent concerns for shareholders and the company.
Read MoreToday, As You Sow, in partnership with Ubuntoo, an environmental solutions platform, released their “2024 Plastic Promises Scorecard” ranking 225 global companies across 15 industries on their ambition and actions to reduce plastic packaging pollution. One major finding of the report is the significant gap between companies’ stated plastic reduction commitments and actions taken to meet those commitments.
Read MoreVote totals were released last Wednesday, May 31, for Exxon’s 2024 Annual General Meeting. The meeting was unique for both its tone and substance, with Exxon openly vilifying and disparaging its investors for asking questions about the future direction of the company.
Read MoreTomorrow, ExxonMobil’s (NYSE: XOM) shareholders will vote on a proposal filed by United Church Funds and represented by As You Sow calling on Exxon to report how a significant reduction in virgin plastic demand would impact the company’s financial position and the assumptions underlying its financial statements. Exxon tried and failed to block the proposal at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in March of this year, one of many confrontational actions by Exxon targeting shareholders this proxy season.
Read MoreAs global plastics treaty talks wind down in Ottawa, I was pleased to see key topics like petrochemical production caps and extended producer responsibility front and center in discussions. Those have been the ongoing focus of As You Sow’s plastic pollution conversation with major producers and their customers for several years.
Read MoreAs You Sow filed a first-of-its-kind shareholder proposal on Friday asking U.S. tobacco giant Altria to assess and take responsibility for the collection and cleanup costs of trillions of discarded plastic cigarette filters. Used cigarette filters are the most littered form of plastic on the planet, with an estimated marine ecosystem and waste management cost of $26 billion per year.
Read MoreCalifornia Governor Gavin Newsom signed the nation’s most sweeping electronics device repair legislation, SB 244, into law on Tuesday. Under the bill, manufacturers will be required to facilitate the repair of covered consumer electronics – including computers – by making certain tools and parts available to consumers and repair shops for at least seven years after production. The bill was supported by Apple and HP, yet opposed by device manufacturer trade associations, including the Consumer Technology Association.
Read MoreWhile delegates from 180 countries debated a global treaty to combat plastic pollution that might include plastic production caps, one-quarter (25.3%) of ExxonMobil shareholders representing $66.7 billion supported a resolution filed by As You Sow asking the company to study how a one-third cut in demand for virgin single-use plastic would affect its financial position at the company’s recent annual meeting.
Read MoreAs You Sow, a long-time advocate of producer responsibility for packaging, salutes the passage of landmark California legislation (SB 54) that makes producers responsible for the recycling of post-consumer packaging, requires a 25% reduction in use of single-use plastic packaging, and a 65% recycling rate for all packaging by 2032.
Read MoreShareholders of McDonald’s Corporation representing more than $51 billion in market value supported a resolution filed by As You Sow requesting the company develop a list of actions it could take to reduce plastic pollution.
Read MoreIn a powerful display of support in the fight against plastic pollution, 48.9% of shareholders of Amazon.com supported an As You Sow shareholder resolution at the company’s annual meeting last week.
Read MoreA shareholder resolution challenging a major petrochemical company on virgin and single-use plastic production received a 37.4% vote from ExxonMobil shareholders at the company’s annual meeting today.
Read MoreA first-of-its-kind shareholder resolution challenging a major petrochemical company on plastics production received majority support (50.4%) from Phillips 66 shareholders at the company’s annual meeting last week.
Read MoreToday, Microsoft Corp. published findings from a third-party study — “Summary of Sustainability Benefits of Microsoft Device Repair” — that evaluated the benefits of the company improving repairability of its devices.
Read MoreChurch & Dwight Co., maker of Arm & Hammer, Orajel, and other popular consumer brands, has shared with As You Sow its commitment to set a total virgin plastic use reduction goal. In response, As You Sow has withdrawn its shareholder proposal with the company.
Read MoreIn an effort to further reduce its use of single-use plastic packaging, PepsiCo has agreed to set a time-bound goal by the end of 2022 for a percent of volume of beverages to be delivered via strategies that avoid or minimize single-use packaging.
Read MoreRepresentatives from 175 nations endorsed a historic resolution at the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya today to end plastic pollution and negotiate a global, legally binding agreement by 2024.
Read MoreThe Kraft Heinz Co., the third-largest food and beverage company in North America, has agreed to set a goal to reduce total virgin plastic use following the filing of a shareholder proposal and engagement with As You Sow.
Read MoreIn response to a resolution filed by shareholder representative As You Sow, which encouraged Microsoft to respond to the growing “right to repair” movement — the company has agreed to increase consumers’ options to repair their devices by the end of 2022.
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