Berry Global

Sustainability strategy and accountability
Berry Global discloses its process for identifying and prioritising its most relevant sustainability impacts as well as the outcome of this process, in relation to its sustainability strategy. The company reports consistently against all its targets.

Stakeholder engagement
Berry Global discloses how often and through which channels it engages with various stakeholder groups. Its stakeholder engagement covers nature, including biodiversity, and social issues.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
Berry Global discloses working towards minimising conversion, through a certification policy that ensures the non-deforestation and non-conversion of natural ecosystems.

Water
Berry Global discloses its target to reduce water consumption intensity by 1% per year and reports progress against the target. The company also reports how much water is withdrawn for its own operations in water-stressed areas. The company requires access to water and sanitation, including refraining from negatively affecting access to safe water, to be included in contractual arrangements with its business relationships.

Solid and air pollution
Berry Global discloses the proportion of hazardous waste treated to reduce pollution compared to total waste, the hazardous waste diverted from disposal and the waste directed to disposal. The company discloses targets of having 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025 and 10% recycled content across its packaging by 2025, and it reports progress against these targets. It also reports on the proportion of reused or recycled products, or proportion of virgin polymer use, or proportion of single-use plastics.

GHG emissions
Berry Global has set a target to reduce its scope 1 and 2 absolute emissions 25% by 2025 from a 2019 baseline and reports progress against the target. Moreover, the company has committed to reducing its scope 3 absolute emissions 8% by 2025 from a 2019 baseline and reports progress against the target. The company’s scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions reduction targets are aligned with a 1.5-degree trajectory.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights 
Berry Global is committed to respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights.

Sustainability strategy and accountability
While the company discloses some sustainability targets, no evidence was found that the company has group-wide targets on key sustainability topics for the most material parts of its value chain based on the SBTN Sectoral Materiality Tool. No evidence was found that the company links performance criteria in senior executives’ remuneration policies to targets and objectives which cover nature, including biodiversity, and social issues. The company does not disclose whether its highest governance body has expertise regarding nature-related topics.

Stakeholder engagement
The company does not disclose an overview of the issues raised during its stakeholder engagement activities.

Lobbying
The company does not disclose a list of trade associations of which it is a member. Nor does it disclose a clear and detailed framework for assessing alignment of its trade associations with nature-positive policies. The company does not report (potential) misalignment between the lobbying activities of its trade associations and nature-positive policies.

Impact and dependencies assessment
The company does not disclose any assessment of its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, within its own operations. Nor does it disclose any assessment of its impacts on nature, including biodiversity, in its supply chain. It does not disclose any assessment of its dependencies on nature within its own operations. Finally, it does not disclose any assessment of dependencies on nature of its upstream business relationships.

Key areas and species
The company does not disclose the locations that are in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity within its own operations. Nor does it disclose the locations of its suppliers that are in or adjacent to areas important for biodiversity. Additionally, it does not disclose species populations existing in or adjacent to its own locations or those of its suppliers. Finally, it does not disclose the status according to national and international conservation lists of species identified in its own locations.

Ecosystem conversion and restoration
The company provides evidence that it is trying to increase the amount of sustainably imported raw materials. However, it has an opportunity to make a commitment to ensure zero conversion. The company does not disclose activities to achieve conversion-free supply chains, and it does not have time-bound targets to achieve conversion-free supply chains. The company does not disclose a commitment to minimise ecosystem conversion, nor is it committed to restoring ecosystems. Finally, the company does not disclose details and outcomes of ecosystem restoration projects in areas affected by its own operations or by its suppliers.

Resource exploitation and circularity
The company does not disclose its inputs, including its material footprint, nor does it report quantitatively on its group-wide circularity performance. The company does not disclose activities to improve soil health or agrobiodiversity in its production or sourcing practices, and it does not have a target to improve soil health in its production or sourcing practices.

Water
The company discloses an increase in water withdrawal in its own operations from 8,430,732 in 2020 to 8,660,840 in 2021. The company does not engage with suppliers to reduce water withdrawal. The company does not report a decrease in water pollution, nor does it disclose its processes for managing and monitoring discharge water quality. The company does not regularly report on water pollution or disclose associated reduction targets. The company does not disclose a commitment to respect the right to water, nor does it disclose its processes for implementing preventive and corrective action plans for identified specific risks to the right to water and sanitation in its own operations.

Solid and air pollution
The company is reducing the production of hazardous waste but is not reducing plastic use and waste in its own operations. It does not report on the amount of plastic waste generated and proportions directed from or to disposal. Although the company reports regularly on air quality parameters of emissions of harmful air pollutants, it does not disclose time-bound targets to reduce air pollutants across the most material parts of its value chain.

Invasive species
No evidence was found that the company identifies the activities that could lead to the introduction of invasive species in its own operations or in its value chain.

Safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
The company is not committed to respecting local communities’ right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment, nor does it track its actual or potential negative impacts on the health of local communities. The company is not committed to zero tolerance for acts of violence, threats, intimidation or judicial harassment committed against land and environmental rights defenders.

Indigenous Peoples’ and land rights
The company does not disclose its processes for identifying and recognising the rights of Indigenous Peoples when activities in its own operations may impact their rights, nor does it describe how it obtains Indigenous Peoples’ free, prior and informed consent. The company does not disclose a commitment to respect ownership and use of land and natural resources and related legitimate tenure rights, as set out in the relevant part(s) of the VGGTs or the IFC Performance Standards. The company does not require its business relationships to have a process to identify legitimate tenure rightsholders, paying particular attention to vulnerable or marginalised tenure rightsholders, and to negotiate with them to provide adequate compensation.

While the company discloses that it conducts due diligence in general, it has an opportunity to specify that it conducts human rights due diligence that includes a process for identifying human rights risks and impacts in its financing activities. While the company conducts a materiality/risk assessment to assess the main risks to the business, it has an opportunity to describe its process to assess the human rights risks. No evidence was found that the company has a global system in place to act on, prevent or mitigate its salient human rights issues. Nor was evidence found that the company provides an example of the conclusions reached and actions taken or to be taken on at least one of its salient human rights issues as a result of assessment processes. While the company discloses the categories of stakeholders it engages with generally on sustainability issues, it is not clear if these stakeholders are those whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities. There is no evidence that the company provides examples of its engagement with stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be affected by its activities.

On its website, the company indicates that safety is its priority and that it follows clear health and safety principles. However, it has an opportunity to disclose a publicly available policy statement which shows it is committed to respecting the health and safety of workers. It does, however, have a publicly available policy statement which shows it expects its suppliers to commit to respecting the health and safety of their workers. There is no evidence that the company discloses a time-bound target for paying all workers a living wage or that it has achieved paying all workers a living wage. Nor is there evidence that the company describes how it determines a living wage for the regions where it operates. While the company states that it expects its suppliers to pay wages that are sufficient for workers and their families to fulfil their basic needs, it has an opportunity to disclose how it works to support the payment of a living wage by its suppliers. The company discloses the proportion of its total direct operations workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements. While the company explains suppliers’ rights to join unions and bargain collectively, it has an opportunity to describe how it works to support the practices of its suppliers in this regard.

The company discloses a tax strategy, but it is not applicable to all its operations. The company takes steps to identify and address bribery and corruption, and it includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its contracts with direct business relationships. There is no evidence that the company has a publicly available policy statement or policy setting out its lobbying and political engagement approach. Nor is there evidence that the company has a publicly available policy statement that specifies that it does not make political contributions.