LUSH, the British cosmetics retailer is constantly looking for ways to innovate with packaging, especially when it helps its mission to “Leave the world lusher than we found it”, and is aiming to continue this through introducing Prevented Ocean Plastic™ Globally.
Lush has been using 100% recycled PET for their clear bottles for more than a decade, and this is an exciting next step. In the UK, through working with its suppliers Spectra Packaging, Lush has introduced certified recycled Prevented Ocean Plastic ™ for its 100ml, 250m and 500ml bottles. The Lush Manufacturing sites in Germany and Croatia have also rolled out Prevented Ocean Plastic ™ across these sizes, with Lush North America and Japan to follow suit later this year, each working with their local bottle manufacturers. The 1L bottles are still in transition across all markets, but will be introduced later this year. This will allow Lush to roll Prevented Ocean Plastic ™ out globally.
Every time a customer takes home a product in a clear plastic bottle marked with the Prevented Ocean Plastic trademark, Lush says, “they’re helping to protect marine ecosystems and the coastal communities who are at the forefront of the effects of ocean plastic pollution.”
The plastic used to make the new Lush clear bottles has been collected within 50km of an ocean coastline or major waterway in Indonesia and would be at risk of entering and polluting oceans if it were not collected and recycled. Indonesia has been identified as an at-risk area because of the country’s lack of waste management and recycling infrastructure. The combination of tourism, a growing population and the lack of collective incentives create a significant risk of plastic contamination to the wildlife and their ecosystems.
The plastic is collected, taken to the collection centres before going through the recyclers, to packaging manufacturers for material distribution to Lush and other retailers for branding and use.
“The Prevented Ocean Plastic™ initiative is hugely important to Spectra Packaging. It holds a special place in our hearts because it provides a proactive solution to combating ocean plastic pollution and generates tangible socio-economic benefits for those in at-risk regions who bear the brunt of its impact. The opportunity to work with a forward-thinking partner like Lush illustrates a common desire to align our visions to drive positive change. By working together towards these common goals, partnerships such as ours can make a positive impact”.
Jonathan Powell, Sales Director, Spectra Packaging
“Seeing how much impact the Prevented Ocean Plastic™ Programme has had on the communities in areas at high risk of plastic pollution, being part of preventing tonnes of plastic from entering the oceans as well as improving transparency of the supply chain is very much fulfilling our Lusher than we found it statement. I feel honoured to have worked with such a passionate and inspirational group of people who care about people and the environment.”
Karolina Michalska, Creative Buying, LUSH
Stat: 80% of the plastic polluting our oceans comes from land based sources in developing coastal communities. (1)
Not only is the Prevented Ocean Plastic™ actively fighting further ocean pollution, but customers in 17 markets can ensure that, when they have finished their Lush products, the packaging is returned through the Bring it Back scheme where it is responsibly recycled.
Since launching the Bring it Back recycling scheme in 2021, 2.27 million individual items have been returned and therefore diverted from becoming plastic waste (55.5 est. tonnes in weight, the equivalent of 63 polar bears).
The Lush Green Hub in the UK is a building that showcases Lush’s commitment to and investment in finding solutions for materials that could be considered as waste. With six core teams working together at the Green Hub, Lush is creating circular economies, working to close the loop on packaging and water waste, and find solutions to reuse, repurpose, repair and recycle materials from across the business.
How the POP programme provides a preventative, holistic solution. (drop down)
The programme is developing efficient waste management infrastructure, creating reliable income opportunities with dignified working conditions for local people, and providing certified and traceable premium quality recycled plastic to global markets, all while preventing many plastics from polluting our oceans.
Like Lush, the POP programme has a rigorous set of ethical standards, inspired by the Ethical Trading Initiative-a leading alliance of companies, trade unions and NGOs that promote workers’ rights around the globe. The POP programme has created a recycled plastic supply chain with remarkable traceability, allowing us to track the raw material right from the communities where it originates, through to the sorting and recycling centres where it is processed. We’re witnessing the incredible impact of this programme, which as a whole is preventing over 1,000 tonnes of plastic from entering the ocean every month.
Ocean plastic pollution is also disproportionately affecting developing countries. Rising standards of living has enabled people in low resourced, remote communities to utilise more single-use plastic items while complex geography barriers and minimal, inefficient collection services make effective waste management a difficult issue to tackle.
At the same time, developed countries which generate more plastic waste per capita, are exporting their recyclable materials to developing countries which lack the effective waste collection and management systems needed. These ill-equipped and under-resourced communities are shouldered with the burden of protecting our oceans from plastic pollution and the POP program has developed a preventative, holistic solution. It has already developed an efficient waste management infrastructure which was previously lacking and will continue to expand and to support a circular economy on plastic, create reliable income opportunities with dignified working conditions for local people, clean up the natural environment, and provide certified and traceable premium quality recycled plastic to global markets.
Packaging-Free Innovations (drop down)
Whilst Lush is committed to taking full responsibility for the packaging it produces, packaging-free otherwise known as Naked has always been a long standing priority when it comes to product innovation. Lush Co-Founder, Mo Constantine has invented many mainstream packaging-free products we see across many brands today, including the shampoo bar in 1988, the bath bomb in 1989 and the bubble bar in 1995.
In 2023, Lush manufactured shampoo bars 2,712,842 Globally, preventing the use of 8,138,526 plastic bottles.
