By using recycled PET, we can reduce plastic waste, as existing plastic is reprocessed through the recycling process and used in our single-use PET deposit bottles.
Ambitions
Driving the transition to a circular and low carbon packaging system
Packaging is essential to ensure the safe delivery of products to consumers, protecting and preserving their quality and reducing food waste. Plastic packaging has especially become the norm for packaging beverages, due to its lightness, strength, convenience, and lower energy consumption than glass. However, its widespread use and inadequate end-of-life management have caused significant environmental challenges. That’s why, for many years, Danone has been dedicated to reducing the use of plastic packaging, improving the circularity of plastics that cannot be eliminated to date, and recovering what is not kept in circulation. In parallel, we collaborate, with industry alliances, civil society, and governments to develop effective systems to collect, reuse, and recycle packaging.
A pioneer in promoting a circular economy for packaging
Danone has been actively promoting a circular approach to packaging for more than 30 years.
- In 1992, we became one of the founding members of France’s first Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) organisation, originally called Eco-emballages and now known as Citeo.
- In 2008, evian was the first brand in France to use food-grade recycled PET, thereby helping to popularise this practice.
- In 2017, we joined the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s (EMF) ‘New Plastics Economy’ initiative and signed the ‘Global Commitment on Plastics’ to help tackle plastic pollution on a global scale.
Commitments
Our commitments to drive the transition to a circular and low-carbon packaging system
Since then, Danone has been working towards achieving its target in addition to advocating for a collective global transition. In 2023, we reinforced our ambition in our sustainability roadmap, the Danone Impact Journey. It's, built on a holistic approach based on 3 strategic pillars, Health, Nature, and People & Communities, and supports the transition to a circular and low-carbon packaging system.
Enhancing recyclability and developing reuse
Achieving fully reusable, recyclable, or compostable packaging
We strive to improve the circularity of our packaging by ensuring that materials are kept in the economy and out of nature. Our goal is to make all our packaging 100% reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2030. This involves redesigning our packaging to ensure that the materials we use can be sorted and recycled in practice, adapting them to existing infrastructures. Danone also continues to develop reusable packaging models (e.g., our reusable plastic jug and glass offer), while participating in cross-industry partnerships to scale reusable models. One example is our close collaboration with Citeo in France.
100%
reusable, recyclable, or compostable packaging by 2030
Minimizing our plastic footprint
Halving the use of virgin fossil-based packaging
At Danone, we are committed to reducing our plastic usage to minimize our environmental impact. We aim to halve the amount of virgin fossil-based packaging used by 2040 compared to 2020. This involves eliminating unnecessary plastic packaging, optimizing plastic use through packaging design, increasing the use of recycled content, and/or replacing plastic with alternative materials like paper.
50%
reduction in the use of virgin fossil-based packaging by 2040, with a 30% reduction by 2030
Efficient and inclusive collection systems
Leading the way in developing effective collection systems to recover as much plastic as we consume
By 2040, we aim to recover as much plastic as we consume. Through a collaborative approach with our ecosystem, we aim to prevent plastic pollution by developing efficient and inclusive collection and recycling systems. This includes paying extended producer responsibility (EPR) fees in markets where EPR is a legal requirement (e.g. in Germany and Austria), as well as voluntary investments in impact funds and private initiatives to combat plastic pollution.
Through our partnership with Digi-Cycle GmbH, we are committed to making recycling practical and easy to understand in everyday life. According to the German Federal Environment Agency, around 30% of all packaging waste in Germany ends up in general waste, thereby bypassing the recycling loop. Even packaging that is disposed of correctly is not automatically recyclable. Furthermore, disposal practices often vary from region to region: While waste paper in Vienna goes in the red bin, in Frankfurt it is the green bin and in Berlin the blue bin.
This is where DigiDot comes in – with the support of Danone. Via digi-dot.info or the QR code on the packaging, consumers can easily access precise, regional disposal instructions via their smartphone, without needing an app.
2040
Lead the development of effective collection systems designed to recover as much plastic as Danone uses.
100% recycled material for all Volvic & evian bottles*
To reduce the global volume of plastic waste, we are constantly working to improve the packaging of our Volvic and evian brands. That is why, since 2020, all Volvic bottles and, since 2023, all evian bottles have been made from 100% recycled PET*.
Thanks to the deposit-return system in Germany, 96.2% of all PET beverage bottles subject to a deposit are returned. 97.6% are subsequently recycled. This is confirmed by a study conducted by the Society for Packaging Market Research.
*excluding lid and label
Further information about our packaging
‘Recycled material’ refers here to rPET, which is the abbreviation for recycled PET. This is therefore not newly produced PET made from crude oil – a finite resource – but PET that has already been used for packaging and has been processed through a recycling process for reuse.
By using recycled PET in our product packaging, we support the circular economy and ensure that we use as little newly produced PET as possible. Since 2020, all our Volvic single-use returnable PET bottles in Germany and Switzerland have been made from 100 per cent recycled PET*. In Germany, evian bottles are also made from 100 per cent rPET.
*Excluding caps and labels.
No, our Volvic and evian bottles are not biodegradable.
We have calculated the carbon footprint for rPET internally. These calculations show that recycled PET has a lower carbon footprint than virgin PET. Above all, it is important that by using recycled PET, we reduce our consumption of crude oil, a finite resource, and also utilise materials that have already been used. We have set ourselves the goal of continuing to reduce our CO2 emissions.
