Client earth and French organisations Surfrider Foundation Europe and Zero Waste France are taking Danone to court over its global plastic pollution.

Danone, the French-headquartered company behind brands such as Evian, Activia and Volvic has been targeted as the partners believe the company's plastic use goes against a key French law demanding that companies acknowledge and address the impact their operations have on the environment, health and human rights.

In 2021, the company used more than 750,000 tonnes of plastic, and is amongst the top ten biggest plastic producers worldwide. Danone is attempting to increase the recyclability of its products, but this is a limited solution as only nine per cent of plastics ever made have been recycled.

The new French Duty of Vigilance law was adopted in response to the Rana Plaza tragedy - the collapse of a textile factory in Bangladesh in 2013 which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,000 people. Under this law, large companies with more than 5,000 employees in France, or 10,000 employees in France and their foreign subsidiaries, must publish an annual ‘vigilance plan’ identifying the environmental and social risks stemming from their activities and those of their subsidiaries, suppliers and subcontractors, all around the world.

These plans must include mitigation and prevention measures adapted to the severity of these risks, as well as a report on the implementation of these measures. Client Earth and its partners do not believe that the company has made sufficient attempts to introduce plans that mitigate its operations. As a result a court case has now been filed in the Paris Tribunal Judiciaire – the equivalent of the UK High Court. The next steps in the court case will be determined by a judge in an initial hearing in the next few months.

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