Recycled plastic packaging claims are misleading, say experts

"Europe's supermarket shelves are packed with brands billing their plastic packaging as sustainable, but often only a fraction of the materials are truly recovered from waste, with the rest made from petroleum. Brands using plastic packaging from Kraft's Heinz Beanz to Mondelez's Philadelphia use materials made by the plastic manufacturing arm of the oil company Saudi Aramco. The Saudi state-owned holding opposes production cuts under the UN plastic treaty and is the world's largest corporate greenhouse-gas emitter (over 70m tonnes up to 2023)."

"Aramco's petrochemical subsidiary, Sabic, along with other major players, devised a successful way to rebrand their harmful business as planet saver. They label plastic as circular and climate-friendly, although in practice it remains almost entirely fossil-based, exacerbating global warming and the plastic crisis. Under industry pressure, Europe is on track to legalise this practice, which independent experts have described as greenwashing, with lax EU rules set to take effect in 2026 and similar UK regulations to be enforced as of 2027."

"To promote so-called sustainable plastic, the petrochemical industry is pushing pyrolysis, the most common type of chemical recycling. This highly energy- and carbon-intensive process converts plastic waste into recycled feedstock: pyrolysis oil. This hazardous compound, however, can make up at most 5% of total feedstock and must be diluted with 95% virgin naphtha to avoid damaging the steam-cracking plants that turn the input into new plastic."

Supermarket plastic packaging often contains mostly petroleum-derived materials with only a fraction truly recovered from waste. Major brands use plastics made by Saudi Aramco's petrochemical arm; Aramco opposes UN treaty production cuts and is the world's largest corporate greenhouse-gas emitter (over 70m tonnes up to 2023). Sabic and other industry players rebrand fossil plastics as circular and climate-friendly while plastics remain almost entirely fossil-based. Europe and the UK are moving to legalise such labeling with lax rules from 2026 and 2027. The industry promotes pyrolysis chemical recycling, which is energy- and carbon-intensive; pyrolysis oil is hazardous, represents at most 5% of feedstock, and requires dilution with 95% virgin naphtha, thereby expanding virgin feedstock use. The industry relies on controversial but lawful accounting practices, including mass-balance bookkeeping.

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