• The initiatives support Mondelēz International’s ambition to create zero net waste packaging
  
• Announcement furthers Mondelēz International’s 2025 sustainability goals

DEERFIELD, Ill., March 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mondelēz International, Inc. today announced that it has joined two leading initiatives focused on tackling plastic waste and pollution, as the company accelerates its efforts to reduce its impact on people and the planet.

Mondelēz International is now a signatory of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, as well as a participant in the New Plastics Economy Initiative, and a member of the UK Plastics Pact. The initiatives share a collective ambition to address plastic waste and pollution at its source, by moving toward a circular economy where plastic stays in the economy and out of the environment.

The announcement marks an important step forward in Mondelēz International’s ambition to create positive impact for people and planet and achieve zero-net waste packaging. As part of a long-term commitment to reduce environmental impact, the company set 2025 packaging innovation targets to ensure 100% of packaging is designed to be recycled, contains on-pack recycling information and contributes to the company’s commitment to reduce CO2 emissions. Today, 93 percent of the company’s total packaging, including both plastic and non-plastic, is designed to be recycled.

Beyond this significant progress the announcement advances the company’s leadership role in calling for and participating in sector-wide collaboration to identify and scale up innovation, harmonize packaging formats to make recycling easier and improve waste management infrastructure.  

“We believe that sector-wide initiatives, in collaboration with government, are key to reducing the impact of packaging on our planet” said Christine Montenegro McGrath, Vice President of Sustainability and Global Impact at Mondelēz International. “Through our partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and in joining The UK Plastics Pact, we are accelerating our work toward creating zero net waste packaging and improving recycling globally, and we are fully committed to their vision.”

The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment has set ambitious 2025 targets which Mondelēz International, along with signatories from government, business and other organizations, has formally endorsed. As part of the Global Commitment, Mondelēz International will work towards the following:

• Take action to eliminate problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging by 2025
• 100% of plastic packaging to be reusable or recyclable
• Use 5% recycled content (by weight) across all plastic packaging used
• Take action to move from single-use towards reuse models where relevant

“The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment unites businesses, governments and others behind a clear vision of a circular economy for plastic. We are pleased Mondelēz International is joining us as a New Plastics Economy Participant and Global Commitment signatory, by setting concrete 2025 targets. Our vision is for a world where plastic never becomes waste or pollution. It will be a challenging journey, but by coming together we can eliminate the plastics we don’t need and innovate, so the plastics we do need can be safely and easily circulated – keeping them in the economy and out of the environment,” said Sander Defruyt, Lead of the New Plastics Economy Initiative at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. 

As a member of the UK Plastics Pact, which is the first in a global network of Pacts which are aligned with, and support the New Plastics Economy initiative, Mondelēz International commits to working towards delivering the UK Plastics Pact 2025 targets by:

• Eliminating unnecessary and problematic packaging and plastic products
• Ensuring all plastic packaging is recyclable in practice
• Using recycled plastic in our packaging wherever possible

“We are delighted to have Mondelēz International sign up to The UK Plastics Pact. Through our first-of-a-kind Pact we are working together with governments, citizens and business to transform the way we make, use and dispose of plastic so that we retain its value, but prevent it from polluting the environment,” said Marcus Gover, CEO WRAP the organization behind the Pact.

Joining these initiatives furthers Mondelēz International’s 2025 sustainability goals which are focused on making snacks with less energy, water and waste.  These goals are designed to address climate change in a meaningful way and are based on an end-to-end, science-based approach to reducing the company’s carbon footprint, including reducing absolute CO2 emissions from manufacturing and addressing deforestation in key raw material supply chains. 

About Mondelēz International
Mondelēz International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLZ) empowers people to snack right in over 150 countries around the world. With 2019 net revenues of approximately $26 billion, MDLZ is leading the future of snacking with iconic global and local brands such as OREO, belVita and LU biscuits; Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milka and Toblerone chocolate; Sour Patch Kids candy and Trident gum. Mondelēz International is a proud member of the Standard and Poor’s 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Visit www.mondelezinternational.com or follow the company on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MDLZ.

About the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy

Since 2016, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy initiative has rallied businesses and governments behind a positive vision of a circular economy for plastics. Its 2016 and 2017 New Plastics Economy reports captured worldwide headlines, revealing the financial and environmental costs of waste plastic and pollution. The initiative is supported by Wendy Schmidt as Lead Philanthropic Partner, and the Oak Foundation as a Philanthropic Funder. Amcor, Borealis, The Coca-Cola Company, Danone, L’Oréal, MARS, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Unilever, Veolia and Walmart are the initiative’s Core Partners. www.newplasticseconomy.org | @circulareconomy

About the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment
The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment unites businesses, governments and other organizations behind a common vision and targets to address plastic waste and pollution at its source. It is led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in collaboration with UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Launched in 2018, the Global Commitment already has more than 450 signatories committed to keeping plastic in the economy and out of the environment, by committing to a set of ambitious 2025 targets.  At the heart of the New Plastic Economy Global Commitment is a vision of a circular economy for plastic, where plastics never become waste. It is defined by six key points: 

• Elimination of problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging through redesign, innovation, and new delivery models is a priority
• Reuse models are applied where relevant, reducing the need for single-use packaging 
• All plastic packaging is 100% reusable, recyclable, or compostable 
• All plastic packaging is reused, recycled, or composted in practice 
• The use of plastic is fully decoupled from the consumption of finite resources 
• All plastic packaging is free of hazardous chemicals, and the health, safety, and rights of all people involved are respected 

About the UK Plastics Pact
The UK Plastics Pact, led by WRAP and launched in 2018, is the first of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s global Plastics Pact network. The UK Plastics Pact is a bold and unique initiative that will transform the UK’s plastic system. By bringing together the entire plastics value chain behind a common set of ambitious targets, it will move us towards a system which keeps plastic in the economy and out of the environment. It will encompass innovation, research and new business models to rethink and redesign what packaging we put on the market in the first place, and how we can encourage more re-use of packaging.

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