The Kraft Heinz Co: Sustainable Packaging Policies for Flexible Plastics

WHEREAS: Without immediate and sustained new commitments throughout the plastics value chain, annual flows of plastics into oceans could nearly triple by 2040.[1]

The growing plastic pollution crisis poses increasing risks to The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC). Corporations could face an annual financial risk of approximately $100 billion should governments require them to cover the waste management costs of packaging they produce.[2] Governments around the world are increasingly enacting such policies, including five new state laws that impose fees on corporations for single-use plastic (SUP) packaging.[3] The European Union has banned ten common SUP pollutants and imposed a tax on non-recycled plastic packaging waste.[4] A French law requires 10% of packaging to be reusable by 2027 and Portugal requires 30% reusable packaging by 2030.[5] Additionally, consumer demand for sustainable packaging is increasing.[6]

Pew Charitable Trusts’ groundbreaking study, Breaking the Plastic Wave (“Pew Report”), concluded that improved recycling alone is insufficient to address plastic pollution—instead, recycling must be coupled with reductions in use, materials redesign, and substitution.[7] The Pew Report finds that the greatest opportunity to reduce or eliminate plastic lies with flexible packaging, often used for chips, sweets, and condiments among other uses, and virtually unrecyclable in America. With innovation, redesign, and substitution, 26 million metric tons of plastic flexible packaging can be avoided globally.[8]

KHC acknowledges that flexible packaging makes up the majority of the 13% of its packaging that is unrecyclable but has not committed to action to meet its goal for 100% recyclable packaging by 2025.[9] In the absence of immediate action to eliminate flexibles by robustly engaging in research and development of reusable packaging, KHC is on track to fail to meet its 100% recyclable packaging goal.

The Pew Report finds that reducing plastic use is the most viable solution from environmental, economic, and social perspectives, yet broad corporate and stakeholder alignment on flexible packaging solutions is lacking.[10] Our Company could avoid regulatory, environmental, and competitive risks by adopting a comprehensive approach to addressing flexible plastic packaging use at scale.

BE IT RESOLVED: Shareholders request that the Board issue a report, at reasonable expense and excluding proprietary information, describing how Kraft Heinz could address flexible plastic packaging in alignment with the findings of the Pew Report, or other authoritative sources, to reduce its contribution to plastic pollution.

SUPPORTING STATEMENT: The report should, at Board discretion:

Assess the reputational, financial, and operational risks associated with continuing to use non-recyclable plastic packaging while plastic pollution grows;