"Danone settles plastics transparency lawsuit with NGO coalition", 24 February 2025.

Amidst a lawsuit alleging its failure to record its plastic consumption, Danone has reached an agreement with ClientEarth, Surfrider Foundation Europe and Zero Waste France; now the corporation must publish its use of plastics, strengthen its plastics prevention policy, and attend annual meetings in the coming years.

Back in January 2023, the coalition of NGOs took Danone to court under the allegation that it had violated France’s duty of vigilance law. Companies with over 5,000 employees, or 10,000 in France and foreign subsidiaries, are required to record environmental and social risks in an annual ‘vigilance plan’, yet the NGOs argued that Danone’s did not mention its plastic usage.

The coalition urged Danone to publish a new vigilance plan specifying the presence of plastics across its value chain and activities, and to commit to a plastic reduction trajectory.

Now the Paris Judicial Court has ordered a mediation and the parties have come to an agreement. The coalition has withdrawn its court action against Danone in exchange for the corporation making four ongoing commitments.

The first is to update its vigilance plan to include plastics-related risks. Within this measure, Danone has acknowledged that using plastics, especially in its packaging, will likely pose a salient risk “for water, air, soil, climate, human rights and health”...

Kamila Drzewicka, spokesperson for the NGO coalition, comments: “We now have a vigilance plan that identifies – in our opinion for the first time – in its mapping the risks related to the production and use of certain plastics and additives that are likely, due to the migration of sensitive substances, to generate impacts on human health throughout the life cycle of plastics.”

Furthermore, Danone must strengthen its mitigation and prevention policy regarding plastic usage. In particular, its vigilance plan covers its implementation of reuse solutions in order to limit single-use packaging solutions...

Thirdly, Danone must publish its plastic footprint. Danone is set to utilize the best scientific methods available to estimate the percentage of plastic in its value chain, starting with production and ending at distribution, and make its findings publicly available...

Sebastien Mabile, lawyer at Seattle Avocats and counsel for the coalition, adds: “This agreement illustrates the potential of the Duty of Vigilance law, as it enables a constructive dialogue between business and civil society to prioritize and mitigate potential risks, but also to prevent harm.”...