Japan's Suntory joins rival Coca Cola to push Vietnam on plastic recycling

Suntory Beverage & Food

25/06/2019 15:40

By Ritsuko Ando
    TOKYO, June 25 (Reuters) - Japanese beverage giant Suntory
Holdings said it would work with rival Coca-Cola  KO.N  as well
as Nestle  NESN.S  to push the government in Vietnam, among the
biggest contributors to plastic waste in the ocean, to create a
large-scale recycling system.
    The alliance comes amid growing global outrage over such
pollution, with the European Union voting to outlaw some
single-use plastic items such as straws. Japan plans to discuss
the issue at the G20 summit it hosts this month.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N21E5VJ
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N23K4UN
    Suntory, the maker of Hibiki whisky as well as soft drinks,
plans to switch out pure petroleum-based plastic bottles in all
markets by 2030, using only recycled or plant-based materials.
This would cost around 50 billion yen ($467 million), Suntory
Chief Executive Takeshi Niinami told Reuters. 
    This goal is particularly challenging in Suntory's Southeast
Asian markets, including Vietnam, where it has a joint venture
with PepsiCo  PEP.O . Much of the region lacks sophisticated
systems for collecting, sorting and treating used plastic.
    Niinami said his fear was that governments may take drastic
restrictions against plastic bottles instead of working on
recycling. The company sees no viable alternative yet to
polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. 
    "If an environment minister or regulator suddenly declares
PET bottles as bad and restricts its use ... this will be
disruptive."    
    Vietnam's prime minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, said earlier
this month he wanted Vietnam to phase out single-use plastics by
2025. He said there should be "drastic measures" to get there
but did not say how.
    The foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a
request for comment made outside office hours.
    Niinami said the alliance will call on the government to
plan a system spanning collection and facilities for recycling,
although members have not decided on specifics such as how such
infrastructure would be paid for. 
    He said the alliance was not offering up a blank check, but
added Suntory was aware it may need to help and possibly pass on
some of the costs of such recycling efforts to customers.
    "It would be difficult for suppliers like ourselves to pay
for everything," he said. 
    The alliance will also include the local operations of
companies including Tetra Pak and NutiFood.
    This is the latest in a string of partnerships among global
plastics and consumer goods companies formed this year. A report
by Greenpeace last year found Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Nestle to
be the world's biggest producers of plastic trash, although all
three companies have made recycling pledges. 
($1 = 106.9900 yen)

 (Reporting by Ritsuko Ando in TOKYO; Additional reporting by
James Pearson in Hanoi; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and David
Evans)
 ((Ritsuko.Ando@reuters.com; +81 3 6441 1743; Reuters Messaging:
ritsuko.ando.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))