Glitter = Litter
Glitter seems fun and harmless, but these microplastics will remain in the environment forever.
ASN Bank talks with Unilever about microplastics in cosmetics
2 July 2020
As the first bank in the Netherlands, and perhaps even worldwide, ASN Bank has formulated an investment policy that takes the plastic soup into account. ASN strives for a ‘cleaner world in which no more plastic ends up in ecosystems.’
Companies in which the bank invests are judged against the bank’s Plastic Policy, also with retrospective effect. If companies do not meet the set criteria, the bank enters into dialogue to promote the desired transition. If there is too little progress, they may reconsider ongoing investments.
ASN DOES NOT INVEST IN THE PRODUCTION OF VIRGIN PLASTIC
In this policy document, the bank makes it clear that it will avoid businesses in the petrochemical industry. This includes companies that make the raw materials for plastics, such as ethylene and polymers. ASN, therefore, does not invest in shale gas and plastic production companies.
As early as last year, research conducted by the Fair Banking and Insurance Guide, in cooperation with the Plastic Soup Foundation, showed that other Dutch banks and insurance companies had invested billions in shale gas and plastic production since 2010. These investors finance plastic production and thus the plastic soup. The fact that ASN explicitly excludes these investments is good news and deserves to be emulated by other financial institutions.
UNILEVER AS A TEST OF CRITICISM
ASN Duurzaam Aandelenfonds is one of its oldest and largest sustainability funds. At 1.8% (approximately € 16.5 million), Unilever is one of the largest of 130 companies in which the fund invests listed on the stock exchange.
Unilever sells plastic-packed products around the world, including in countries with extremely poor waste collection and disposal. The company is in the top ten biggest polluters globally, and the environmental damage is incalculable. A recent report by Tearfund calculated that Unilever, along with Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé, generates half a million tonnes of waste annually in six countries alone.
The report states that Unilever is deliberately continuing to produce single-use plastic packaging for often minute amounts of shampoo, noodles, detergent, and the like knowing that:
- This plastic packaging is not properly collected and recycled in many countries.
- As a result, they contribute to increasing plastic pollution, as they often end up in the environment, are landfilled or burned out in the open.
- This pollution causes severe and growing damage to the environment and human and animal health.
The opinion of Tearfund is that this can in no way be defended morally. This is offset by all kinds of promises from Unilever, such as experiments with new business models. There is now one pilot refill station in Indonesia where people can tap the desired quantity from eleven Unilever brands into the containers they have brought along.
MICROPLASTICS IN UNILEVER PRODUCTS
One of the absolute requirements of the ASN plastic policy is that companies may not use microplastics in cosmetics. It is a well-known problem that many personal care products contain added micro and nanoplastics. The company says about this on the Unilever website:
Unilever used to use small plastic scrub beads in a limited number of dedicated beauty & personal care products, such as exfoliating face and body washes. The plastic scrub beads were used as an ingredient because of their ability to gently remove dead skin cells from the surface of the skin. Many consumers enjoy the clean feeling that using products with the beads provides. We stopped using plastic scrub beads in 2014.
Unilever has banned exfoliating particles since 2014, but microplastics remain in many Unilever products, including products from the Dove, Vaseline, AXE, Lakmé, and Pond’s brands. These include microplastics like: acrylates copolymer, polyisobutene, polyethylene, PVP, and acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer.
Unilever has never stated that all its care products are entirely free of microplastics. If you want to be sure that a product does not contain microplastics when you buy cosmetics, you can use the new Beat the Microbead app.
ASN’s reaction
“We would like to thank the Plastic Soup Foundation for this analysis. During the development of our Plastic Policy, we have also been in contact with each other. We very much appreciate it when other experts think critically about our policy to improve it. We strive for a circular economy in which plastic packaging is used as little as possible, and high-quality re-use and recycling of plastic occur.
Our influence on this is that of a shareholder via the ASN Investment Funds. We are ambitious in that role, but we must also take account of the progress made by companies. If we are too strict in our policy, the result is quick that we have to reject companies with an impact on this issue for our funds. And with that, our influence disappears as well. That’s why we choose to encourage frontrunners positively. As a result, our policy is not as strict as the Plastic Soup Foundation would like it to be. For the time being, we are opting to encourage Unilever positively because this is a company where we see a positive path.
At the same time, the Plastic Soup Foundation has drawn our attention to the fact that our research into the use of microplastics in cosmetics by companies has not been complete. We now start another analysis and questioning those companies that have not made a clear statement about this.”
PLASTIC SOUP FOUNDATION’s position
It is commendable that ASN Bank has developed a Plastic Policy and regularly tests companies against criteria relating to their contribution to the plastic soup. ASN Bank only approves investments and financing that comply with the bank’s sustainability policy. With its assessment policy, the bank claims to significantly influence companies’ plastic use, thus preventing plastic from ending up in nature. However, with the investment in Unilever, which is considered one of the biggest contributors of plastic soup, there is a risk that Unilever’s current plastics policy will be legitimized and qualified as sustainable. Therefore, we are pleased that ASN Bank is entering into discussions with Unilever.
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