Henkel launched almost 700 million bottles made of 100% recycled plastics to the market in Europe
Henkel used almost 700 million bottles made of 100 per cent recycled plastics for Laundry & Home Care products in Europe – more than 400 million in 2020. The recycled material stems from post-consumer waste, including Social Plastic from Henkel’s partnership with the Plastic Bank. Social Plastic contributes both to environmental and social causes: The recycled plastic has been collected in countries without functioning recycling infrastructures by people living in poverty before it enters oceans or waterways.
Most PET bottles within Henkel’s Laundry & Home Care business in Europe are already converted to 100 per cent rPET. These include bottles for dishwashing, hard surface cleaning, fabric finisher and laundry brands. For example, the PET bottles of the Pro Nature product range are made of 100 per cent recycled plastics, 50 per cent of which is Social Plastic.
Progress has also been made in the Beauty Care portfolio: Just recently, Henkel’s hair and body care brand Nature Box was the first beauty brand to introduce Social Plastic as a packaging material for its complete bottle portfolio: All bottle bodies of Nature Box are made of 98 per cent Social Plastic – and Henkel is currently working to replace the remaining 2 per cent virgin plastic, which are based on the bottle’s colour, with the recycled material as well. For that, the company is already testing a colour carrier consisting of Social Plastic.
The use of post-consumer recycled plastics is an important pillar of Henkel’s packaging targets for 2025. The company is working towards the target to reduce the amount of virgin plastic from fossil sources in its consumer product packaging by 50 per cent by 2025. To reach this goal, Henkel aims to increase the proportion of recycled plastics to more than 30 per cent by 2025, reduce the absolute plastic volume and increase the use of biobased plastics. In addition, 100 per cent of Henkel’s packaging will be recyclable or reusable. The company also wants to help prevent waste from being disposed of in the environment. In order to achieve this, Henkel is supporting waste collection and recycling initiatives, for example.
