Unilever pledges to halve new plastic use

Convenient for the consumer - a catastrophe, say environmentalists, for the planet.

Plastic packaging has taken over the world's supermarkets ....

But on Monday (October 7) Unilever became the latest big brand to say it's going to do something about it.

It's pledging that by 2025 it will halve the amount of new plastic it uses.

Which is a lot: the Anglo-Dutch firm currently gets through 700,000 tonnes of so-called 'virgin' plastic each year.

That's plastic created using raw - instead of recycled - materials.

The maker of Dove soap, Ben & Jerry's ice cream and Marmite spreads, among other things - ...

Also promised to help collect and process more plastic packaging than it sells - setting a 600,000 tonnes annual target.

Others - like Sainsburys - have made similar promises...

To deal with an estimated 2.1 billion metric tonnes of waste generated each year.

The UK supermarket group said a "transformational leap in thinking" was required ...

When it vowed last month to halve plastic packaging.

Burger King, meanwhile, is to stop handing out plastic toys in children's meals in its UK restaurants.

And Nestlé has promised to make 100 percent of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025.

Last month, it opened a research institute to look at ways of doing that.

Greenpeace has identified the Swiss consumer goods giant as one of biggest producers of plastic waste polluting landfill sites and oceans.