As part of Henkel’s ambitious packaging targets for 2025, the company wants to promote a circular economy and contribute to preventing plastic waste from being disposed of in the environment. Therefore, Henkel is supporting waste collection and recycling initiatives and investing in innovative solutions and technologies to promote closed-loop recycling. One example for these initiatives and collaboration is Henkel’s partnership with Plastic Bank.
Turning waste into opportunities
Henkel has been partnering with the Plastic Bank since 2017. The joint commitment: Reducing plastic waste before it can enter the oceans while at the same time improving the lives of people living in poverty, especially in regions that lack waste management infrastructures. Collectors receive a premium for the plastic they collect which helps them provide basic family necessities such as groceries, cooking fuel, school tuition, and health insurance. The plastic waste is sorted and subsequently reintroduced into the recycling value chain as Social Plastic®. Thereby, Plastic Bank is revealing the value in plastic waste – and stopping it before it reaches waterways and oceans.
Henkel packaging with Social Plastic®
In line with its commitment to foster a circular economy, Henkel incorporates Social Plastic® into various product packaging. In October 2018, the first Henkel packaging that contains Social Plastic® was made available. Since then, Henkel launched a range of cosmetic products, laundry detergents and household cleaners with packaging made with Social Plastic®.
Just recently, Henkel’s body and hair 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 percent Social Plastic®. Furthermore, the bottle bodies of special editions under the Fa (“Beach Love”) and schauma (“Ocean Passion”) brands are made of 96 percent recycled plastic, 50 percent of which is Social Plastic®.
In Henkel’s Laundry & Home Care business, the PET bottle bodies for the Pro Nature detergents from the Biff, Pril and Sidolin brands are made of 100 percent recycled plastic, 50 percent of which is Social Plastic®. Additionally, also the fabric softeners Vernel Fresh Control and Vernel Naturals, consist of 100 percent recycled plastic – of which 25 percent is Social Plastic®.
About the Dow Packaging Innovation Awards
The Dow Packaging Innovation Awards honor innovations in packaging design, materials, technology and processes across the entire packaging value chain. This year, the judges evaluated more than 175 entries from companies around the globe. Entries ranged from personal care and health and hygiene, to food and beverage and industrial innovations. The 2020 Packaging Innovation Awards hosted by Dow is now in its 32nd year and is the industry’s longest running, independently judged packaging awards program. The judging panel consists of professionals from around the world in a wide range of fields, including design, engineering, retail, converting and academia.
