Procter & Gamble (P&G) has announced a series of attainments across a range of European sustainability projects which form part of its “Ambition 2030” goals.
P&G Solar Impulse
Bertrand Piccard, Founder & Chairman of the Solar Impulse Foundation and Virginie Helias, P&G Chief Sustainability Officer. Photo: Business Wire
P&G is utilising the circular economy for recycled plastic in Europe through the use of circular resin in its hair care packaging and detergents bottles. The company has been bestowed with some notable industry distinctions in what it has described as "an effort to lead the industry in packaging, sorting, and post-consumer recycled resin supply" with the HolyGrail intelligent packaging project, being named winner of both the Circular Economy innovation of the year category in the Edie Sustainability Awards in the UK, and the 1000 Efficient Solutions Label by the Solar Impulse Foundation.
Lenor, Unstoppables and Fairy brands will become the first commercial utilisations of HolyGrail intelligent packaging in Europe. Ariel Cold Wash and Fairy with its Fairycology programme have also been granted the 1000 Efficient Solutions Label by the Solar Impulse Foundation, which P&G is a sponsor, for enabling sustainable cleaning via less energy and water consumption without compromises.
In a statement, the company said: "P&G’s Ambition 2030 goals aim to enable and inspire positive impact on the environment and society through brands, the supply chain, and employees, while creating value for the Company and consumers."
Virginie Helias, P&G Chief Sustainability Officer said: “2020 is a year where action – collaborative action – will put us on the right trajectory.”
“For P&G, 2020 will be a year of regenerative action where we will activate our Ambition 2030 goals across our brands, through innovation and transformative partnerships. It’s not just about reducing our impact, but about being a force for regeneration to address the challenges of plastic waste, water scarcity and biodiversity loss. We will be leading on all of these fronts to drive change at scale and for long-term impact,” she added.
P&G Hair Care's recycled PET resin commitment
P&G Hair Care Europe will be trialling new packaging with recycled plastic material for Pantene products, starting with the brand’s clear bottles. The material is made from advanced recycling of polyethylene terephthalate Circular PET, through advanced monomer recycling – meaning the material can be used in beauty packaging over and over again. The new material, to be produced by Indorama Ventures, is suitable for all brands packed in PET bottles. By committing to the use of this material, P&G is driving a new circular supply chain, creating an end market for recycled plastics.
Ariel's plans to save equivalent of 200 million bottles virgin plastic
P&G and UK recycling and energy recovery company Viridor have entered a five-year partnership agreement that foresees recycling and reprocessing high density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic, for re-use in Ariel laundry detergent bottles. The agreement between the two companies comes after three years of collaboration and innovation in producing more sustainable packaging from post-consumer waste. The high-density recycled polyethylene (rHDPE) resin by Viridor will enable Ariel to bring to life the previously announced commitment of reaching up to 50% recycled content in its liquid bottles as of 2020. Ariel’s commitments also include all packaging to be recyclable by 2022 and 30% plastic usage reduction by 2025. P&G and Viridor are both founding partners of the UK Plastics Pact, the multi stakeholder collaborative initiative aiming to transform the plastic economy in the UK.
Ariel Cold Wash & Fairy awarded 1000 Efficient Solutions Label
Ariel and Fairy have been awarded the 1000 Efficient Solutions Label by the Solar Impulse Foundation. The innovative label aims to illustrate and encourage scalable technologies that both protect the environment and support clean economic growth. The label was created by the Solar Impulse Foundation to support its vision to mobilise the public in favour of technologies that allow decreased dependence on fossil fuels and induce positive emotions about renewable solutions. Each solution is assessed by independent experts for their technological feasibility, environmental and socio-economic benefits, and economic profitability.
Ariel Cold Wash technologies are recognised for enabling sustainable cleaning through brilliant performance in cold water which allows significant energy savings via lowering the laundry temperature. Fairy has been recognised as the best solution requiring less energy, less water and less waste. In fact, Fairy washing up liquid is formulated to work at low temperatures, saving energy while Fairy automatic dishwashing cleans tough food cleaning without pre-wash resulting in water and energy saving.
HolyGrail 2.0 intelligent packaging project
The HolyGrail 2.0 intelligent packaging project that aspires to transform packaging sorting has recently received two great accolades: the 1000 Efficient Solutions Label by the Solar Impulse Foundation and Edie’s Sustainability Leaders Awards, the UK’s largest sustainability awards scheme, recognising the people, projects and initiatives that are accelerating business transformation.
HolyGrail’s intelligent packaging project has been recognised within the Circular Economy Innovation of the Year category for the significant changes it could bring to packaging, sorting, post-consumer recycled resin supply, and much more. HolyGrail 2.0 is the second phase of the project which will be exploring a possible test market in 2021 with the formation of a mega consortium of over 115 companies across the value chain.
Lenor, Unstoppables and Fairy to be first brands to implement HolyGrail
Lenor, Unstoppables and Fairy brands will pioneer application of digital watermarks - the HolyGrail intelligent technology - to enable further learnings behind sorting and recycling at Material Recycling Facilities. P&G has been leading pioneer project HolyGrail under Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s auspices since 2016. It is a collaborative effort designed to solve one of the largest obstacles plastic recycling faces – ineffective sorting at recycling facilities. The new Unstoppables and Lenor scent boosters packages are estimated to first reach the German market by October 2020 followed up by rest of the European markets. Fairy will be the second brand to integrate HolyGrail digital watermarks into packaging in Europe. As digital watermarks are imperceptible to the human eye but can be detected by optical scanners and smart phones, the technology can be also used for consumer engagement and education by the brands at a later stage.
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