Green investors see positives in plastics votes at Amazon, ExxonMobil

Advocates for plastics pollution shareholder resolutions see the results of votes this year as a sign of growing investor concern over the issue, pointing to majority and near-majority support for their proposals at companies like Amazon and Phillips 66.

In late May, for example, 49 percent of Amazon shareholders voted for a resolution asking the online retail giant to detail efforts to cut back on single-use plastics. If you discount company-controlled shares in the vote, it was supported by nearly 60 percent of investors.

Likewise, investors representing 37 percent of ExxonMobil shares backed a call at its May 25 annual meeting to study its financial risks the resin maker faces, if the world moves significantly away from disposable plastics packaging.

That came after 50.4 percent of Phillips 66 shareholders backed a similar resolution in mid-May.

Green shareholder groups said they put new focus on plastic resin firms this year, after the release of the Minderoo Foundation's Plastic Waste Makers Index identified the companies who are the biggest suppliers of plastic to single-use packaging markets.

"The new element this year was filing directly with petrochemical companies identified as major producers of resins [in single-use markets]," said Conrad MacKerron, senior vice president at As You Sow, which led efforts on some of the more than 15 resolutions filed. "We view those efforts as highly successful so far.

"It's still rare to get an outright majority on any proposal, but especially one that has been filed for the first time, when investors are often more cautious about support," MacKerron said. "We view the majority vote at Phillips 66 as a powerful indicator of the priority placed on resolving plastic pollution by socially conscious as well as increasingly mainstream investors. The 37 percent vote at ExxonMobil was also quite encouraging, given the size of the company."

AYS and other shareholders also submitted a similar resolution this year at Dow Inc., but the company blocked it at the Securities and Exchange Commission around a technical issue based on share ownership, MacKerron said in an email interview.

Green investors are likely to try again if talks with Dow don't make progress, he said.

Many of the resolutions this year at consumer product makers like Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc. and Kraft Heinz were ultimately withdrawn, after the companies reached agreements with the green investors. Coke, for example, unveiled goals around reusable packaging.

A vote is still upcoming at grocery chain Kroger Co., after 45 percent of shareholders backed a plastics resolution last year. And the results of a May shareholder vote at McDonald's Corp. should be released soon, MacKerron said.

For next year, As You Sow is exploring shareholder resolutions around microplastics and flexible packaging, he said.

"Flexibles are a strong current concern and part of our dialogue with several companies," MacKerron said. "It's not yet clear if there's an appropriate shareholder proposal ask. We will be studying that."

"We have tentative plans to expand focus to microplastics, so we will likely be engaging tire and apparel/textile companies to see if filing proposals could help move them to action," he said.

Another environmentally minded investment fund that's focused on plastics waste issues, Green Century Capital Management, said it would look at resolutions around plastic reductions and refillable packaging next year.

AYS said in a May 31 news release that it believed the Amazon vote sent a "clear signal" of investor concern.

The Berkeley, Calif.-based AYS said it hoped that the company would respond to the vote by disclosing its plastics use and devising a plan to significantly reduce its use of single-use plastic, like its blue and white plastic bubble mailers.

Amazon, for its part, had urged shareholders to reject the resolution, saying that it's committed to reducing plastics waste and has taken steps to reduce the environmental impact of its packaging.

For example, the company said in a report to shareholders that last year it increased recycled content in its plastic bags from 25 percent to 50 percent, and in its plastic padded bags from 15 percent to at least 40 percent.

It also said it's rolling out what it considers as a more environmentally friendly paper mailing envelope.

"We expect to replace the use of mixed [paper and plastic] mailers with a recyclable paper padded mailer by the end of 2022," it said. "We have also reduced our use of material like plastic film and single-use plastic."

The company said it was using machine learning algorithms to identify packages where it can switch out padded plastic for plastic bags, cutting plastics use by 30 percent, and expanding plastic film recycling drop off sites.

"We recognize that plastic film is a difficult material to process, and most municipal recycling programs do not accept it," the company said.

A similar resolution last year won support of 35 percent of shareholders.

Similar to Amazon, ExxonMobil also urged its investors to reject the shareholder proposal.

AYS and others said shareholders needed to ask for a public report on the risks ExxonMobil could face from stranded plastics assets, if societies move significantly away from single-use plastics in coming years.

The resin maker said it shared concerns about plastics in the environment and pointed to many actions it was taking, including investments in chemical recycling facilities in the United States and France.

ExxonMobil said it plans to build capacity to process about 500,000 metric tons of plastic waste per year by 2026.

As well, it said that it's a founding member of the Alliance to End Plastics Waste, a $1.5 billion industry effort to improve waste management in the developing world.

And it pointed to estimates that plastics demand is expected to continue to grow worldwide.

Polymers will be needed to help meet needs for lower-carbon technologies like electric cars and green power, as well as help achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in areas like clean drinking water.

The resin maker quoted an International Energy Agency analysis that said that even under a net zero emissions by 2050 strategy, chemical demand will grow by 30 percent from 2020, and plastics will account for half that new demand.

AYS, however, argued that ExxonMobil's investments in chemical recycling is still only one-eighth of its planned investments in new virgin resin production from fossil fuels, a similar point it made to Phillips 66 shareholders.

Other resolutions this year saw either agreements or shareholder votes at various companies.

PepsiCo, for example, said it would work to increase reusables, following a 2021 announcement that it wanted to reduce virgin resin use by 50 percent across its brands by 2030.

As well, a resolution was withdrawn at Newell Brands after the maker of Rubbermaid plastic storage containers reached agreement with shareholders for a goal of at least 20 percent non-virgin plastic packaging for its manufactured goods.

Green Century, which worked on the Newell resolution, also pointed to a vote at fast food restaurant chain Jack in the Box in March, where 95 percent of shareholders supported a plan to have the company accelerate work on sustainable packaging.

That's the highest ever percentage vote recorded in favor of an environmental shareholder proposal that was opposed by management, said Annalisa Tarizzo, a shareholder advocate with Boston-based Green Century.

Similarly, the Amazon plastics resolution had the highest percentage vote of 15 resolutions in front of shareholders at this year's annual meeting, MacKerron said.

"I think the high vote results speak to a widely held view by shareholders that this is a real and urgent problem," he said. "You don't seem to have deniers as you have with climate change or a more politicized debate as you do with labor issues."

Tarizzo said Green Century is seeing a similar level of company interest in reaching agreements with green investors as in previous years, but she said there's more support among general shareholders.

"In terms of voting on proposals, it seems that investors are taking plastic-related risks more seriously and increasing their support," she said.