Plastipak

How ethical is Plastipak?

Plastipak is a plastic packaging manufacturer which has fallen below The GOOD Shopping Guide’s ethical benchmark on our Ethical Packaging Ratings Table. While Plastipak performs well across most environmental criteria, its below-benchmark performance is driven by a corporate governance concern relating to its parent company’s political donation activity.

What does Plastipak do?

Plastipak Packaging, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Plastipak Holdings, Inc., headquartered in Plymouth, Michigan. The company has been in operation since 1967 and is a manufacturer of rigid plastic containers for the food, beverage, and consumer products industries, operating more than 40 sites across the United States, South America, and Europe with over 6,500 employees. Plastipak is also a leading recycler of rigid plastic packaging, producing food-grade post-consumer recycled resin for inclusion in new packaging.

Why does Plastipak fall below The GOOD Shopping Guide’s benchmark?

Plastipak’s below-benchmark performance is notable because the company performs well across most environmental criteria. The brand achieves good ratings for its environmental report, pollution prevention, and eco certifications, and receives a good rating for armaments, confirming no involvement in defence or weapons-related sectors. These are meaningful strengths.

However, Plastipak receives a poor rating for political donations. As a large US-headquartered multinational, Plastipak Holdings and its subsidiaries have documented political donation activity in the United States. For consumers and businesses seeking to purchase from companies free of political financial influence, this represents a significant concern. Corporate political donations can reflect attempts to shape legislation and regulation in ways that serve commercial rather than public interests, and their presence in a company’s activities is a meaningful indicator of corporate governance priorities.

Plastipak also receives a poor rating for vegan options, indicating limited focus on plant-based or vegan-certified packaging solutions. As consumer demand for sustainable and plant-based alternatives to conventional plastic packaging continues to grow, expanding into this area would both improve the company’s ethical rating and align with broader market trends.

Beyond these poor ratings, Plastipak’s toxic chemicals policy and fossil fuels ratings are both acceptable rather than good, indicating further room for improvement in chemical management and energy transition commitments across its global manufacturing operations.

It is worth noting that Plastipak has no documented public record criticisms and its environmental performance is strong across reporting, pollution, and eco certifications. The company’s recycling operations and post-consumer recycled resin production represent a positive contribution to the circular economy. However, the political donations concern through its US parent company is an ethical issue that The GOOD Shopping Guide cannot overlook, and which brings the brand below the benchmark regardless of its environmental credentials.

Consumers seeking packaging solutions that meet The GOOD Shopping Guide’s ethical benchmark are encouraged to consult our Ethical Packaging Ratings Table and our guide to ethical packaging, and prioritise brands that hold Ethical Accreditation. Several higher-ranking alternatives in this sector have achieved independent ethical verification and represent stronger choices for ethically conscious consumers. Our how we rate page explains the criteria used to assess all brands in this sector.