Sysco, the world’s largest food distributor, should stop using harmful single-use plastic
Author: Steve Blackledge
Sysco delivers wholesale food to a wide variety of businesses including restaurants, hotels and hospitals. But unfortunately, the food distribution giant is also contributing to the mountains of harmful pollution that enter our environment in the form of plastic waste. Every 45 seconds, a garbage truck’s worth of plastic waste is spewed into our oceans - killing over 1 million marine animals every year. And a huge portion of that pollution is plastic packaging, from beverage bottles to produce wrappers to foam food s and more. In fact, packaging is our country’s single largest contributor to the plastic pollution crisis. That’s a huge problem for thousands of species of wildlife, many of them already threatened or endangered. Imagine a sea turtle swimming in the Atlantic or Pacific. The turtle notices what appears to be a jellyfish nearby - dinner! By the time the turtle consumes its meal, it’s too late. The remnants of a plastic bag or shrink wrap are stuck in its digestive system. Currently, Sysco does not report any information about its plastic footprint and has not set any comprehensive goals for reducing its plastic use. But the tide is turning: 92% of Sysco shareholders just voted for the company to substantially reduce its plastic packaging and be more transparent about the materials it uses. It’s not a done deal, though: Sysco itself still needs to actually make the commitment that its shareholders just called for.