A total of 16 Greenpeace activists have been arrested at a protest outside Unilever’s London headquarters this afternoon, however the group’s boss said they “won’t let up”.
Greenpeace activists block the entrances to Unilever House
The environmental campaign group launched its rally this morning in response to the food and drink manufacturer’s plastic pollution and recent U-turn on its sustainability targets.
It is understood that the protest has since escalated, with nine activists arrested over locking themselves onto barricades made of giant Dove deodorants with a subverted ‘Dead Dove’ logo, before being cut out with angle grinders by police.
It comes as the first time Greenpeace protesters have been arrested under new powers introduced in the Public Order Act.
Seven other activists were placed under arrest over scaling the walls of the building, and affixing a large canvas depicting a young girl peeling back Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ logo to reveal examples of toxic plastic waste that Greenpeace claims is being produced by Unilever.
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Greenpeace co-executive director Will McCallum said the environmental campaigners were not going to “let up” and will “continue to escalate unless [Unilever] puts a proper plan in place to phase-out single-use plastic.
“The arrest of these activists goes to show how big polluters like Unilever are hiding behind the government’s new gagging laws to carry on with their destructive behaviour. It is them, not peaceful protesters, that should be held to account.
“Whether it’s devastating flooding or toxic fumes from waste burning, the billions of pieces of plastic waste they’re pumping into the world are exacting a toll on communities far from this London office. There’s no ‘Real Beauty’ in the real harm Dove and Unilever are causing.
“Unilever must stop selling plastic sachets now, commit to phasing out single-use plastic within a decade and advocate for this same level of ambition at the final round of UN Global Plastics Treaty negotiations in November.”
The protest comes amid Greenpeace’s ongoing campaign against the London-listed conglomerate, which earlier this year, announced a major rollback of some of its plastic reduction targets.
Last December, Unilever came under scrutiny by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority over ‘greenwashing’ sustainability claims made in some of its products.
The protest also comes as Unilever prepares to take the role as chair of the Business Coalition in the upcoming Global plastics Treaty in November.
