A group of anti-plastics activists are claiming victory after prosecutors in the United Kingdom dropped charges against 34 people who participated in a protest at consumer goods company Unilever in September 2024.
The U.K.’s Crown Prosecution Service said in a Jan. 8 letter than there was “not enough evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction,” The Guardian reported. Trials were slated to begin later this month.
The case stems from a protest over “the firm’s ongoing failure to tackle plastic pollution” that saw Greenpeace members block entrances to Unilever’s headquarters in London, Greenpeace said in a news release. Eight people had been facing charges of aggravated trespass and another 26 were charged with “locking-on,” a new law established in 2023 in the U.K. to make it a crime to attach yourself to another person or items and cause “serious disruption” in a public place.
While police had plenty of information about the activists — Greenpeace posted a range of photos and videos on its website — the crackdown on protests has not been a priority since the change in leadership and prime ministers in the U.K. in 2024.
Greenpeace has increased its pressure on Unilever related to its use of single-use, small flexible pouches, also called sachets, to package small amounts of laundry detergents and other items. In its news release, Daniel Jones, the interim head of Greenpeace’s plastics campaign, maintains that the September protest helped convince Unilever to take a “more constructive role in negotiating for a global plastics treaty.”