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Waste Reduction
TARGETS
- 100% Eco Designed/Procured packaging materials by 2023
- 25% reduction* in factory water usage by 2024
- Zero Waste to Landfill by 2025
- 100% packaging to be reusable or recyclable by 2026
Halve the use* of virgin materials by 2030
* from FY21 baseline
FY22 WASTE REDUCTION PROGRESS
In FY22, we started a major packaging revamp project - the foundation for achieving our targets on PCR content, recyclability and virgin material reduction.
Our PCR baseline from FY21 is 18.67% by weight sold across glass, paper and plastics.
In September 2022, we joined OPRL (On Pack Recycling Label), the UK organisation that manages recyclability communications for consumers. The OPRL Prep tool enables us to make decisions about the recyclability of our packaging at the development phase, as well as set out a roadmap for updates in the future.
*Our financial year runs from Oct to Sept.
ECO DESIGN / PROCUREMENT
Eco design is a design methodology that considers environmental aspects at all stages of the product development process, striving for products which make the lowest possible environmental impact throughout their life cycle.
Eco procurement, also known as sustainable procurement, is the meeting of business needs for materials, goods, utilities and services in an environmentally-friendly, responsible and ethical way.
We are developing a policy that will apply these principles to how we create and procure all new products and packaging by 2023.
LESS VIRGIN MATERIALS IN PACKAGING
Following the principles of a circular economy, we want to reduce the amount of materials we use when bringing our formulations to you.
That is why we are taking steps to reduce the weight of our packaging through lightweighting (making the same component lighter) or by removing unnecessary components. For example, in 2018, we removed 3 tonnes of plastic from our packaging and replaced it with small FSC card inserts.
We are also replacing virgin materials with PCR (Post-consumer recyclate) which means fewer resources need to be extracted from the ground or nature. We are already using up to 40% recycled glass in our amber bottles, 100% PCR plastic in our Professional bottles, and 52% PCR in our tubes. We are also using 85% recycled cardboard for our e-commerce delivery boxes.
REUSE, REFILL, RECYCLE
Our goal of 100% of our packaging being reusable, refillable or recyclable by 2026 sets us a big challenge. We are working hard to make sure all of our bottles, tubes and jars can be easily recycled at home.
But the biggest hurdle we face is with packaging closures such as pipettes and pumps, which are hard to recycle because of their metal components or mix of various materials.
That is why we are now offering refills for some of our products, meaning that the pump to be reused, thus saving materials. A key example is Press & Glow which has a fully recyclable bottle and features a reusable pump which can be easily applied to the refill bottle. The refill bottle also comes with an aluminum cap, which is also easily recyclable.
ZERO WASTE
We are challenging ourselves to ensure that we generate as little waste as possible from our offices, distribution centre and manufacturing processes. And, of course, we apply the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle, recover’ philosophy here too.
We order our ingredients in reusable drums which can be sent back to the manufacturers. We’ve also invested in an industrial shredder which allows us to repurpose delivery cartons as void filler for our own orders. This saves 3.7 tonnes/year. We work with a specialist recycling company to turn our PPE into Stormboard, a plastic MDF material which boasts wide applications.
Nothing ever goes to landfill directly, but our aim is to reduce the amount that does go to incineration without energy recovery. That is why we have set an ambition to be Zero Waste certified by 2025.
