Branded: the Sachet Scourge in Asia.

Exposing the top sachet polluting companies with brand audits

Branded: the Sachet Scourge in Asia

Exposing the Top Sachet Polluting Companies with Brand Audits

After six consecutive years of conducting global brand audits, a group of Asian NGOs from the BFFP movement came together to develop a new brand audit methodology focusing on a specific type of plastic pollution that is particularly prevalent in developing economies across Asia: sachets. This report is the first-of-its-kind regional brand audit analysing original data on sachet packaging pollution collected in four Asian countries: India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
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Sachets are sealed, flexible plastic packaging designed for single use, usually consisting of multilayered plastic and other materials, such as metal or paper. They are widely used across Asia to sell small quantities of everyday products such as instant coffee, shampoo, condiments and detergents - with devastating environmental consequences. The difficulty of processing these tiny packages in waste management systems means these sachets end up in landfills, rivers, and beaches, harming ecosystems, wildlife, and ultimately, human health and livelihoods.

Between October 2023 and February 2024, 807 volunteers organised brand audits in 50 locations across India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

Together, these volunteers from 25 organisations collected a total of 33,467 sachets, which were traced to 2,678 different brands.

Top 10 Sachet Polluters

In India, Indonesia, the Philippines & Vietnam

Parent Company
Total Sachets
Unilever
1851
Wings
1565
Mayora Indah
1548
Wadia Group
1352
Balaji Wafers Private Limited
1291
Procter & Gamble
1194
Nestlé
1171
Yes2healthy Life and Wellness Product
1028
JG Summit Holdings
714
Salim Group
683

Report Highlights

The top 10 sachet polluters are Unilever, Wings, Mayora Indah, Wadia Group, Balaji Wafers Private Limited, Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, Yes 2 Healthy Life, JG Summit Holdings, and Salim Group.

A staggering 2,678 brands that sell products in sachets were audited across four countries: India (380), Indonesia (1,212) the Philippines (784), and Vietnam (395), which indicates the proliferation of this problematic, single-use format.

Multilayer sachets dominate the packaging landscape, comprising 57% of the total sample, while single-layer packaging accounts for 41%. This is significant because the multiple layers of different materials make recycling of sachets impossible.

Among the top ten polluters, three of these companies are Indonesian (Mayora Indah, Wings, and Salim Group), two are Indian (Wadia Group and Balaji Wafers Private Limited), one is Filipino (JG Summit Holdings), and one is Singaporean (Yes 2 Healthy Life). The remaining three are from outside the region, headquartered in the US and Europe (Unilever is based in the UK, Nestlé is in Switzerland, and Procter & Gamble is from the USA). All ten companies are in the business of selling fast-moving consumer goods, primarily processed food and beverage manufacturing, as well as some personal care products. Sachets from food packaging constituted 86% of the sachet waste collected.

Medium-sized (52.5 x 74.25 mm) sachets - approximately the size of a standard pack of Kleenex tissues - made up the largest fraction of the sample at 35%, followed by small (26.25 x 37.125 mm) sachets at 34%, large sachets (105 x 148.5 mm) at 14%, extra small (13.125 x 18.5625 mm) sachets at 11% and extra large (210 x 297 mm) ones at 6%.

Here's what corporations can do

The sachet brand audit report draws attention to the proliferation of these problematic, single-use sachets. BFFP calls on fast-moving consumer goods companies to:

  1. Corporations must take immediate action to phase out or quit sachets, to effectively address the environmental, social and economic impacts of these single-use plastics.
  2. Reveal their plastic use by providing public data on the type and quantity of packaging used in different markets, and the chemicals in that packaging.
  3. End support for false solutions such as burning plastic and chemical recycling. Sending sachets and other plastic packaging to cement kilns isn’t recycling.
  4. Redesign business models away from single-use sachets and other single-use packaging of any type - including novel materials such as bio-based or compostable plastics.
  5. Invest in accessible, affordable reuse, refill or packaging-free product delivery systems in all markets, while ensuring a just transition for all relevant workers.
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Let’s urge corporations to phase out or #QuitSachets, spread the word on social media.

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Unveiling the Sachet Scourge in Asia!

From 2019-2022, global brand audits recorded ‘sachets’ among the top 6 most prevalent types of plastic waste.

The #BrandAudit2023 identified the top 10 sachet polluters in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam: @unilever, Wings, @mayora_group, Wadia Group (@BritanniaIndustriesLimited), @BalajiWafers, @proctergamble, Nestle, @yes2healthylifesg, JG Summit Holdings (@urcphilippines), and Salim Group.

For years, FMCGs have flooded Asia’s markets with this inherently polluting, multi-layer packaging format! It’s time to #QuitSachets!

Visit: https://bit.ly/sachets-brandaudit2023 for more information

#BreakFreeFromPlastic

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