Every 16 hours,Americans generate enough plastic waste to overflow the NFL’s largest stadium. That’s more than80,000 seats packed with wrappers, containers, bottles and bags.
Nearly half of all plastic produced is meant for just a single use. Food packages, plastic film, bottle caps and takeout containers are among the most common items found in landfills and environmental cleanups. Most of it is used just once, then thrown away.
This isn’t just a pollution issue—it’s a production one too. We’re generating far more plastic than the system can handle, and much of that waste is packaging designed to be immediately thrown away.
How we can reduce plastic waste
Across the country, people are getting involved in campaigns to push major companies to cut their use of unnecessary plastic packaging and the waste it produces. Citizens have also urged lawmakers to adopt strong policies at the state and local level to ban the worst forms of single-use plastic and move toward a more sustainable future. Here are a few examples:
Whole Foods
Whole Foods built its brand on natural foods, sustainability and environmental values. But when it comes to plastic, the company hasn’t lived up to that image.
In 2021, Whole Foodsreceived an “F” grade on a corporate scorecard by As You Sow, which evaluated how major grocery and retail chains are addressing plastic waste. And in 2023,PIRG conducted a survey that found over half of the brand’s products packaged in wasteful plastic.
PIRG staff and supporters are calling on Whole Foods and its parent company, Amazon, to take responsibility. Our national network has launched petitions, mobilized shoppers and raised public awareness about the company’s role in the plastic waste crisis. We’re urging Whole Foods to ditch unrecyclable packaging, set real reduction targets and commit to more sustainable alternatives in the future.
Amazon
Amazon generated anestimated 709 million pounds of plastic packaging waste in 2021 alone. That tremendous pile of trash included things like plastic air pillows, mailers, film wraps and bubble wrap. It’s estimated that Amazon’s plastic packaging waste in just 2021 was enough tocircle the Earth in plastic air pillows over 800 times.
In 2024, after we launched our campaigns,Amazon announced that it would stop the use of plastic air pillows in its deliveries, saving literal tons of plastic waste every year.
Together, PIRG and our members helped make that happen. But there’s still more we can do. While Amazon has taken action to reduce its overall plastic usage, it can certainly do more to further reduce its plastic, and other environmental, footprints. We’re keeping up the demand for action until they do.
Sysco
Sysco is the largest food-away-from-home distributor in the world,supplying restaurants, schools, hospitals and other institutions across the nation. Unfortunately, that reach comes with an enormous waste footprint—much of which is single-use plastic.
In 2023,92% of Sysco shareholders voted in favor of a resolution calling on the company to reduce its use of plastic packaging and disclose more data on its plastic footprint. The vote sent a clear message: Its investors wanted Sysco to act.
Since then, Sysco hasn’t followed through. The company has not set public targets for reducing plastic use or released data on how much plastic it generates. And Sysco has yet to commit to switching from single-use to reusable or recyclable packaging across its product lines.
Many concerned consumers have signed our petition calling on Sysco to meet the demands of its shareholders. We’ve raised public awareness about the company’s role in the plastic waste crisis, and as long as Sysco delays action, we’ll keep building support to hold it accountable.
With its size and influence, Sysco has the power to lead the food service industry toward less wasteful, more responsible packaging.
Costco
Costco’s business model is built on bulk sales, but unfortunately, that often means oversized and excessive packaging too. Even small products, like creams, fruits or gift cards, are frequently enclosed in large, rigid plastic shells or oversized cardboard designed to fit warehouse shelves and delivery trucks—not minimize waste.
In 2023, wedelivered more than 80,000 petition signatures urging Costco to cut back on plastic packaging. Costco listened, and that consumer demand, along with engagement from shareholders, led to some of the strongest plastic reduction commitments we’ve seen from any major retailer so far.
Costco agreed to release data on the total plastic footprint of its in-house Kirkland Signature brand by July 2024, including how much of its packaging uses recycled content. It also pledged topublish a five-year plastic action plan by December 2024, laying out its first real roadmap for reducing plastic waste across its stores.
These are meaningful steps. They show what’s possible when people speak up and companies listen. But there’s still more work to do. Costco hasn’t yet set firm targets for how much plastic it will eliminate, and it hasn’t committed to phasing out the most unnecessary and wasteful types of packaging from its products.
We’re urging the company to go further. By backing up its commitments and leadership with measurable action, Costco could help set a new industry standard, one that prioritizes our planet over convenience.
Policy change matters too
Even as we urge companies to reduce their plastic footprint, we know voluntary action sometimes isn’t enough. That’s why we’re also working to pass laws and policies that eliminate the worst forms of plastic pollution.
This year, PIRG has helped win some major victories. Oregon passeda law to close the plastic bag loophole, banning so-called “reusable” plastic checkout bags that were really just thicker, single-use plastic ones.California moved forward with laws requiring companies to cut back on unnecessary plastic packaging, increase recycled content, and improve transparency.
Thanks in part to our campaigns, theIllinois Senate passed a polystyrene foam ban—though the bill died before the session ended. Meanwhile,Washington enacted a new recycling reform law, holding companies accountable, funding curbside recycling programs and reducing plastic packaging.
We’re working to lead a shift beyond plastic at every level: from writing and supporting strong legislation, to conducting studies on plastic pollution, to mobilizing public support for bolder action that holds corporations accountable.
But we need to keep it up
Plastic packaging remains one of the biggest contributors to pollution worldwide, with companies seemingly producing more of it every single year. And once it’s out in the world, it doesn’t go away. It piles up in landfills, clogs storm drains and sewer lines, litters beaches and waterways and breaks apart into fragments that can linger in soil, water and even our bodies for decades.
We’re making real progress in the fight to reduce plastic waste, from foam foodware bans to new corporate commitments. We’ve already helped some of the biggest names in retail reduce their plastic footprint. But we’re not letting up yet.
With more voices joining the call, more lawmakers willing to act, and more companies getting the message, we have a real opportunity to turn the tide against plastic waste.
We’ll keep pushing for stronger laws, bigger corporate commitments, and less plastic on our shelves, in our communities and hidden in our environment.