Ambitions
Driving the transition to a circular packaging system
Packaging is essential for ensuring the safe delivery of products to consumers, protecting and preserving their quality and reducing food waste. Plastic packaging has especially become the standard for food and 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 many impacts on society on a large scale. That’s why Danone has been dedicated for many years to promote a circular approach to packaging, reducing the use of plastic packaging, improving recyclability as well as collaborating with industry alliances, civil society and governments to develop effective systems to collect, reuse and recycle packaging to recover as much as we use.
Pioneer in promoting a circular approach to packaging
Danone has been, for more than 30 years, actively promoting a circular approach to packaging. In 1992, we became one of the founding members of France’s first Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) organization, originally called Eco-emballages and now known as Citeo. In 2008, evian became the first brand to use food-grade recycled PET in France, helping to popularize the practice. And in 2018, we joined the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy initiative, signing the Global Commitment on Plastics, representing the largest voluntary effort to tackle plastic waste and pollution on a worldwide scale.
Antoine Riboud (Danone) contribue à la création d'Eco-Emballages à la demande du ministre de l'Environnement Brice Lalonde.
Our actions and progress
Since then, Danone has made tangible progress in enhancing recyclability, reducing its virgin fossil-based packaging footprint and co-building efficient, inclusive and effective recycling systems:
Enhancing recyclability
Danone has made significant progress on design for recycling of its packaging and is among the leaders in the use of reusable packaging worldwide, with 45% of its water’s volumes put on the market in reuse format.
85%
of Danone packaging reusable,
recyclable or compostable in 2025.
-8%
of Danone’s use of virgin fossil-based packaging between 2020 and 2025.
Reducing the use of virgin fossil-based packaging
Danone actively worked to reduce plastic intensity and increased the use of recycled content in its plastic packaging. Since 2025, Volvic has made 100% of its plastic bottles from 100% Recycled PET (rPET) in Europe (except labels & caps).
Co-building and co-financing efficient and inclusive recycling systems to recover as much plastic as we use
Danone has been one of the pioneers advocating for efficient and effective packaging collection and recycling systems, which are essential to keep plastics out of nature. Danone has played a key role in the launch of the Deposit Return Scheme in Poland in October 2025.
63%
of plastic packaging put on the market recovered* in 2025.
*Recover means recycle or valorize through energy recovery, the equivalent amount by weight of plastic packaging put on the market
Commitments
Our commitments to drive the transition to a circular packaging system
Our progress on packaging circularity has been tangible in many areas. However, systemic barriers—ranging from limited collection and recycling infrastructures to scarcity of food-grade recycled materials and fragmented regulatory frameworks—have slowed industrywide progress, requiring collective action.
In this context, Danone reaffirms its commitment to continue advancing circular packaging, as illustrated by the renewal of its endorsement of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation 2030 Global Commitment. With the experience Danone has built and a clearer understanding of today’s market realities, it is also updating its 2030 goals to ensure they remain ambitious and aligned with the current operating environment. From 2026 onward, the company will prioritize designing its packaging for recycling, continue cutting back on virgin plastics, and actively support the development of inclusive, efficient and effective recycling systems to recover as much plastic packaging as Danone uses.
Designing packaging for Recycling
Danone is focusing its goal on designing its packaging for recycling, aligning with regulatory and industry standards, consistent with the Global Ellen MacArthur Commitment, including in markets without defined guidelines. Danone will continue working in close collaboration with industry coalitions and waste‑management partners to achieve recyclability in practice.
Our ambition:
≥95%
of packaging put on the market Designed for Recycling by 2030*.
*Danone refers to « Design for Recycling (D4R) as the design of packaging, including individual components of packaging, that ensures the recyclability of the packaging with established collection, sorting and recycling processes in an operational environment, as defined in EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.
Reducing virgin plastic use through design, reuse and recycled materials
In 2025, the reduction in the use of virgin plastic packaging compared to 2019 was 17,7%, compensating the Group's growth with plastic intensity reduction in cups and bottles and the increase in the use of recycled content in plastic packaging. From now on, as the group grows, our goal is to continue cutting back on virgin plastics, decoupling virgin plastic use from business growth, while acknowledging current constraints in food-grade recycled material availability. We continue to reduce our reliance on virgin plastic by making our packaging lighter, increasing the use of recycled content and partnering in cross-industry initiatives to scale up reuse and refill new business models, where relevant or where market conditions enable it.
Our ambition:
-17%
in the use of virgin plastic packaging through design, reuse and recycled materials in 2030, compared to 2019*.
*Baseline aligned with the Ellen MacArthur Global Commitment
Recovering as much plastic packaging as we use by supporting the development of effective recycling systems
We continue to advance towards our goal to recover as much plastic packaging as we use by 2040, focusing our efforts on advocating for the development of efficient, effective and inclusive recycling systems, which are key to keep plastic out of nature. This involves paying Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fees in markets where EPR is legislated and supporting well-designed Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for water and beverages bottles and cans. In regions where systems are not effective yet, Danone will continue to voluntarily invest in inclusive collection initiatives through impact funds to support plastic packaging recovery.
Our ambition:
≥95%
of the plastic packaging put on the market recovered by supporting the development of effective recycling
systems by 2040*.
*Recover means recycle or valorize through energy recovery, the equivalent amount by weight of plastic packaging put on the market
[1] Source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation 2030 Plastics Agenda for Business
