Plastics
Embedded Files
In this section you can learn about the Global Plastics Treaty, the history of plastics, historical brand attacks and the current brand attack, Dove. You will find a mixture of slides, documents, door pitches and supporting photos and videos for the campaign, including actions.
How we can fix the plastic problem
How we can fix the plastic problem
Plastic is convenient but harmful. When plastic degrades, it forms tiny particles called microplastics. These are ingested by sea life, enter the food chain, and are found even in human bodies. Common sources include synthetic clothing and microbeads in personal care products.
Plastic also endangers wildlife, infiltrates oceans, where a truckload enters every minute, creating vast "plastic soup."
The UK also exports much of its plastic waste to countries without the infrastructure to manage it, leading to pollution and health issues in these regions.
The solution is clear: produce and consume less plastic. Globally, people are pushing companies and governments to act, and in in 2022, the United Nations agreed to develop a new treaty to tackle the plastic problem, called the Global Plastics Treaty.
The final round of negotiations was due to be completed 25th November – 1st December 2024 in Busan, Korea, however they ended with the agreement to have a further round of negotiations – an 'INC5.2'
INC 5.2 took place in Geneva, Switzerland on August 5 to 14, 2025.
No agreement was found. More details below.
Click here to view the Interactive map of incinerators in the UK.
Click here to learn more about the Global Plastics Treaty.
Click here to learn about another organisation working to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage patch.
Latest Updates
Hub Final Plastic Treaty Negotiations INTERNAL USE .mp4Global Plastic Treaty Negotiations
Global Plastic Treaty Negotiations
5-12 August, Geneva, Switzerland - Greenpeace UK recently released a report that exposed petrochemical giants' campaign to derail the Global Plastics Treaty. The report reveals that since the treaty talks began in November 2022, seven companies alone have produced enough plastic to fill 6.3 million rubbish trucks – equivalent to five and a half trucks every minute.
Plastics producers including INEOS (whose tanker 10 of our fantastic highly-trained climbers blocked the passage of in Grangemouth on 25th July) have collectively sent hundreds of lobbyists to exert their influence at every stage of the talks so far.
Lobbyists have used tactics such as intimidation and harassment, to block an agreement that includes caps on plastic production.
We are calling out the role of the fossil fuel industry in undermining progress. We need a treaty that puts people and the planet before polluters.
Greenpeace climbers block INEOS tanker
Greenpeace climbers block INEOS tanker
25 July 2025
10 of our fantastic highly-trained climbers, from all around the world, are currently hanging from the Forth Road Bridge in Scotland to block the passage of an INEOS tanker, delivering fracked gas from the US to the petrochemical facility in Grangemouth. The climbers are supported by four others on the bridge as well as our expert boat team.
Flying dutchman.mp4Training
Photos
November 2023
A 10 ft Dove pump bottle artwork and powerful images of the brand's plastic waste flank the entrance to Unilever HQ as Greenpeace UK brought the plastic pollution crisis to the company’s front door.
February 2024
On the eve of Unilever’s profits announcement Greenpeace UK scaled the company’s HQ by Blackfriars Bridge in London and unveiled a huge banner.
May 2024
Greenpeace UK disrupts Unilever’s Annual General Meeting. Activists rain dead dove confetti on Unilever’s board representing the 140,000 signatories to the Greenpeace open letter calling on Dove and Unilever to ditch their single use plastic. Activists also rebranded Unilever's bathrooms during the meeting.
September 2024
Greenpeace UK activists shut down Unilever’s HQ in Central London. Activists are blockading the entrances to Unilever House, locking themselves onto barricades made of giant Dove products and a subverted ‘Dead Dove’ version of their logo. Climbers secured a huge canvas to the front of the building.
Toxic Influence: The Dark Side of Dove
Toxic Influence: The Dark Side of Dove
A new powerful film by Greenpeace UK takes aim at beauty brand Dove.
Directed by BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Alice Russell (If The Streets Were On Fire), the hard-hitting film is a subversion of the acclaimed 2022 Ogilvy-produced Dove video “Toxic Influence”.
Mirroring the original, it features pairs of mothers and daughters discussing their positive reactions to Dove’s marketing, before the true scale of the brand's plastic waste and its devastating impacts are revealed.
Plastic is everywhere. It's useful and convenient, but it's also a massive pollution problem.
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