Some brands are ditching plastics altogether, proudly declaring themselves plastic free. However, it’s not always possible or practical to shift certain goods to packs made from alternative materials. For those brands unable to move away from plastics, there are, however, ways to minimise packs’ environmental impacts.
As Eva Lagarde, CEO and founder of sustainable beauty education and information platform re-sources, explains: “Plastic is a necessity in the beauty world and with so much ‘plastic bashing’ brands are finding an alternative way to promote its use.”
One of these alternatives is ‘plastic neutral’, which means that for every amount of plastic created, a measured equivalent of plastic waste is recovered and removed from the environment by an individual or company through recycling/waste management efforts or plastic offset credits.
What (& who) is plastic neutral?
“Going plastic neutral very simply means removing as much plastic waste from nature as a brand or product uses,” says Svanika Balasubramanian, co-founder and CEO of rePurpose Global.
“Being certified plastic neutral with rePurpose Global goes beyond this, in that it requires organisations to deal with plastic waste in an end-to-end manner, including ongoing measurement and reduction commitments.”
Joel Tasche, CEO of fellow certifier CleanHub, adds: “For CleanHub, plastic neutrality means that for every 1kg of plastic discarded or produced, the equivalent amount is removed from the environment, or intercepted before it can leak into nature.
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