Major European banks failing to address plastic problem despite widespread discussion of risk
Analysis of over 4,000 corporate reports and investor communications from 30 leading European banks reveals widespread failure to address financial risks from plastic pollution.
- 1/3 of major European banks didn’t mention ‘plastic’ at all in analysed company reports and transcripts – despite plastic being discussed more often by the group overall, mentioned in 35 documents in 2018 up to 293 in 2022.
- Contextual analysis reveals 75% of all disclosures focus on management of plastic after initial use, neglecting the main driver of financial risk: production.
- Just 6% of text extracts mentioned plastic in the context of financing decisions.
London, March 19, 2025: New research from Planet Tracker, a financial think tank seeking to align capital markets with planetary boundaries, reveals most European banks are not taking sufficient action to mitigate financial risk associated with plastic production, use, and pollution – despite many recognising the risk in public-facing documents.
The report, Plastic Banks: Assessing European retail banks’ attitude to Plastic Risk, finds that most European banks do not consider plastic-related risks when making financing decisions, with finance-associated keywords found in only 6% of text extracts discussing plastic.
Nine of the thirty banks analysed – Santander, NatWest, Nationwide, Crédit Mutuel Group, DZ Bank, Erste Group, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Rabobank, and Sberbank of Russia – did not mention plastic at all.
Several banks, including BBVA, ING, and Intesa SanPaolo, demonstrated some examples of leadership in addressing production of virgin plastic and plastic pollution in their financing decisions. However, others focused support on treatment of plastics post-production rather than addressing their financing of production – risking allegations of greenwashing.
Mentions of plastic increased sevenfold, with mentions in 35 documents in 2018 up to 293 in 2022. However, over 75% of ‘plastic’ mentions are alongside words such as ‘type’ or ‘treatment’, revealing banks’ focus on plastic post-production – such as recycling or circularity – rather than addressing the primary driver of risk: production at source.
The report analyses 4,149 texts – including annual and sustainability reports, transcripts from shareholder meetings, and earnings calls – from 30 leading European banks between 2018 and 2022. It looks at both mentions of ‘plastic’ and the context in which the reference was made, including around the impact of usage and disposal, treatment at end-of-life, and related finance activities and metrics.
The research is supported by #BreakFreeFromPlastic, a global movement of 13,000 organizations and individuals working to achieve a future free from plastic pollution.
Plastic production and pollution poses a grave threat to human and planetary health – and a risk to investors through the established and growing threat of litigation, reputational risks including greenwashing, and transitional risk of stranded assets. Meanwhile, plastic production is on course to triple by 2060.
As highlighted in Planet Tracker’s recent Novel Entities: A Financial Time Bomb report, the USD 6 trillion chemical industry is increasingly exposed to hefty financial fines. Litigation cost 3M USD 10 billion to resolve claims that it polluted water with PFAS – known as “forever chemicals” due to their persistence in the environment and human bodies. Between 2022 and 2030 investors face an estimated USD 20 billion in corporate liabilities from plastic-related pollution in the US alone.
To address risk and align with planetary boundaries, the report calls on European banks to:
- Fully understand the risk registers of portfolio companies in the plastic industry – including physical, transitional, regulatory, legal, and reputational risks.
- Evaluate and acknowledge exposure to these risks, contemplating the probability of substantial liabilities.
- Develop robust plastic-related policies for lending decisions.
- Avoid support for single-use items/short-lived products as well as any build out of plastic production and focus investment on toxic-free circularity and reuse systems for products and packaging.
Richard Wielechowski, Senior Investment Analyst at Planet Tracker, comments:
“It’s encouraging that European banks are speaking about plastic more, in particular in the context of risk. But with over three tonnes of plastic waste produced each year for every person born and production set to triple by 2060, consumer and regulatory focus on plastic will only increase – and with it risk to portfolios.
“Investors must go beyond lip service to mitigate growing material risks as they consider financing companies in the plastic value chain and seize the opportunities of a transition to greener materials and systems and a circular economy.”
Laura Díaz Sánchez, Solutions Coordinator at Break Free From Plastic said:
“Every year, more than 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced, yet less than 10% of all plastic ever made has been recycled. We are hurtling toward a ‘Plastocene’ era, with plastic pollution impacting the environment and communities along the plastics chain. We need urgent action from plastic producers and their investors. To avoid further risk to the planet and portfolios, investors must address risk at the source and limit financing for production of virgin plastic and instead focus on solutions that minimise pollution and waste, such as supporting the mainstreaming of reuse systems.”
-ENDS-
Notes to editor:
Read the full report here.
For more information, please contact:
Bee O’Hara, ESG Communications | t: + 44 (0)7580 743 364| planettracker@esgcomms.com
Sally Palmer, Head of Communications, Planet Tracker | t: + 44 (0)7799472824 | sally@planet-tracker.org
About Planet Tracker
Planet Tracker is an award-winning non-profit financial think tank aligning capital markets with planetary boundaries. Created with the vision of a financial system that is fully aligned with a net-zero, resilient, nature positive, and just economy well before 2050, Planet Tracker generates break-through analytics that reveal both the role of capital markets in the degradation of our ecosystem and show the opportunities of transitioning to a zero-carbon, nature positive economy.
About #BreakFreeFromPlastic
#BreakFreeFromPlastic is the global movement working to achieve a future free from plastic pollution. More than 13,000 organizations and individuals around the world have come together to demand reductions in single-use plastics and to advocate for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis. BFFP members work together to bring about systemic change by tackling plastic pollution across the whole value chain – from extraction to disposal – focusing on prevention rather than cure.
