Germany-based consumer goods firm Henkel has integrated recycled plastic in 25,000 bottles for laundry and cleaning products.
Image: Henkel has integrated social plastic in bottles manufactured for laundry and cleaning products. Photo: courtesy of Henkel AG & Co. KGaA.
In the pilot projects, Henkel’s experts from laundry and home care packaging development department have incorporated the recycled plastic into different bottle types for laundry and home care products available in selected countries in Western Europe.
Last year, Henkel collaborated with social enterprise Plastic Bank to collect plastic waste before it is dumped into the ocean.
Three plastic collection centers have been opened this year in Haiti, as a result of collaboration between Henkel and Plastic Bank.
The collected plastic is sorted, processed, and later incorporated into recycling value chains as social plastic, which will be verified by the Plastic Bank to help provide collectors an above-market price for the plastic waste.
The local population has flexibility to return collected plastic waste and exchange it for money, goods or services at the collection centers in Haiti.
Henkel noted that it exploring ways to incorporate social plastic into its own product packaging to further promote a circular economy.
Henkel laundry care packaging manager Vineet Varman said: “We are very pleased with the initial pilot projects of integrating Social Plastic in our packaging. The packaging fulfilled all quality criteria and thus, the products successfully entered the market.
“We want to include even more Social Plastic in our product packaging in the future.”
In September this year, Henkel as committed to make all of its packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025 to further promote a circular economy.
Henkel also intends to use 35% recycled plastic in its consumer goods products marketed in Europe within the same timeframe.
The firm plans to focus on three key phases of a circular value chain, as part of its commitment towards circular economy.
The phases include materials from sustainable sources, smart packaging design and closing the loop.
In March this year, Henkel collaborated with Waste Free Oceans to produce bottles from plastic waste removed from oceans and rivers.
The collaboration is focusing on removing plastic from rivers, lakes, seas and oceans and use it in manufacturing bottles for the Henkel’s Lovables laundry brand.