Danone taken to French high court over plastic pollution

Danone is being sued for alleged “plastic megapollution” in the French equivalent of the UK High Court.

A group of environmental organisations is taking the food giant to the Paris Tribunal Judiciaire over what they claim is a breach of the French ‘Duty of Vigilance’ law, which demands that companies over a certain size assess and prevent the impact their operations have on the environment and human rights.

Zero Waste France, ClientEarth and Surfrider Foundation Europe have argued that Danone is not doing enough to reduce its plastic footprint and is failing to “live up to its duties under the law”.

The Evian owner said it was “very surprised by this accusation”, which it “strongly” refuted.

“Danone has long been recognised as a pioneer in environmental risk management, and we remain fully committed and determined to act responsibly,” a Danone spokeswoman said.

“We are implementing a comprehensive framework of actions aimed at reducing the use of plastic, developing reuse, strengthening collection and recycling schemes, and developing alternative materials.”

The company said it had already made “significant progress” on each of these fronts, particularly on plastic reduction with a decrease of 12% at global level between 2018 and 2021.

However, the environmental NGOs have argued that Danone used more than 750,000 tonnes of plastic for its packaging in 2021 – more than it did the year before.

ClientEarth’s lawyer Rosa Pritchard said the business continued to rely on single-use plastic packaging, such as yoghurt pots and water bottles, “in the hopes that recycling will miraculously deal with the flood of plastics it puts on the market”.

“It’s 2023 and high time Danone started implementing proper solutions such as refill and reuse beyond a few pilots, to give consumers real access to a sustainable model. It needs to deplastify now.”

However, Danone has argued that one single company should not be responsible for ending plastic pollution.

“[It] requires the mobilisation of all players, public and industrial, while respecting the imperatives of food safety,” it said, voicing its support for the adoption of a legally binding international treaty on plastic usage.

Bill Dunkerley, lawyer at firm Pannone Corporate, said: “Although Danone disputes the claim and has objected to the various allegations levelled against it, this action is merely the latest in an increasing global trend of ‘greenwashing’ litigation, which seeks to hold organisations to account in respect of their environmental credentials.”