In September 2022, we issued legal warnings to Danone and a number of other companies including Nestlé France and McDonald's France, for inadequately addressing the risks related to the plastic pollution they produce. Danone responded, but it wasn't good enough. So we filed a court action. 

Months later, Danone issued a fresh document that was supposed to detail its approach to dealing with pollution and rights issues – a new ‘vigilance plan’. Astonishingly, it was still nowhere near good enough. Shortly after this, we headed to our first court hearing.

Now, in September 2023, the judge has ordered that the next stage in our case against Danone will be to enter into mediation with the company – giving us the chance to discuss our demands in detail, guided by an independent mediator. If we fail to find a workable solution, the legal process resumes.

Why are we targeting Danone?

We think Danone is burying its head in the sand when it comes to plastics.

In 2021, the company used more than 750,000 tonnes of plastic – the equivalent of almost 75 Eiffel Towers – even more than it did in 2020.

As a producer and supplier of food products generally packed in single-use plastic, it has never adopted adequate measures to address the harm related to its use of plastics.

That’s despite the fact that it’s amongst the top 10 biggest plastic producers worldwide ...