Green Century has been working hard to secure commitments from our portfolio companies this proxy season. Here’s a wrap up of the agreements we reached with companies to reduce plastic, and why we do this work.
Why Plastics?
Plastic is polluting our air, our water and our bodies.
Scientists are learning more about the risks that microplastics and plastic chemicals pose to our health. Last month, people all around the world were horrified by a documentary called The Plastics Detox, which shows just how pervasive plastics are and the link between plastic exposure and fertility.
This year’s Earth Day theme is – Our Power, Our Planet – that is “a call for every individual, community, and sector to exercise their power in service of the planet we all depend on.”
Individuals can exercise their power to protect the Earth and themselves from plastics by avoiding plastic products and packaging and choosing reusable and refillable options.
To systemically reduce plastic threats to our environment and our health, we need to convince companies to change how they use plastic. Green Century uses its power to engage with companies on behalf of our investors to disclose how much plastic they use, set goals to cut plastic use, and reduce toxic chemicals in plastic products and packaging.
Our Wins This Season
This season we reached agreements with the following companies:
Ulta Beauty: Green Century convinced the largest beauty retailer in the U.S., Ulta Beauty, to disclose its plastic footprint for its own brand packaging and set a new sustainable packaging goal.
Mattel: The parent company of Fisher Price, Barbie and Hot Wheels went from disclosing, at the end of 2025, that it had a list of 3,000 substances, including plastic chemicals, that it monitors, limits, or does not allow in its products, to 15,000 such substances in early 2026, after Green Century filed a related shareholder proposal.
US Foods: Green Century successfully pressed one of the largest food distributors in the U.S. to disclose information in its next sustainability report on what share of take-out containers it sells are made from polystyrene, commonly known as Styrofoam, which contains a suspected human carcinogen.
Hasbro: Green Century convinced the toy company behind Transformers, Peppa Pig and G.I. Joe to disclose how it deals with misalignment between its policies and the lobbying activities of its trade associations. Hasbro is a member of the Toy Association, which has lobbied against legislation that would make it easier to regulate chemicals in toys. The Toy Association also claims that BPA has a “strong safety record” despite its status as a known endocrine disruptor.
Royal Caribbean: Green Century convinced one of the largest cruise lines in the world to provide clearer information on its efforts to cut single-use plastic in its next sustainability report. The company will also provide more details on its plans to launch, by 2035, a cruise ship with net-zero total climate emissions.
Green Century’s work to stop plastic pollution from harming our earth and our health is one issue among many where Green Century advocates are making an impact. We’ve also won commitments from companies to protect forests and biodiversity, address climate warming, reduce e-waste and more.
–Frances Fairhead-Stanova
Shareholder Advocate