The Beauty Industry is notorious for excessive and unnecessary waste, and it is up to us to shop consciously and to also reduce and minimise the footprint we leave behind on this precious earth. 

As the founder and creator of Wildcrafted Organics I feel (as all founders should) ultimately responsible for minimising any waste produced by my business. Sustainability has always been at the forefront of every packaging choice we have ever made and is why we have chosen glass which is infinitely recyclable over any plastic bottles or jars.

It’s not good enough to choose plastic containers and hope it gets recycled as the facts show that only 14% of beauty plastic bottles/ jars are recycled. It’s a scary thought that every piece of plastic made is still on our planet and will never break down - with a lot of it ending up as pollution. 

We are committed to a Circular Beauty model and to reducing our carbon footprint as we reduce, reuse and recycle all our product packaging. As sustainability practices keep evolving and developing, we will continue to challenge ourselves to find the best sustainability solutions for our customers, our business and ultimately our planet.

The most appropriate choice for Wildcrafted Organics currently, is to use a combination of refills (coming soon), reusing and recycling with TerraCycle. To do this we ask you for your help in returning all our product packaging back to us at no cost. To reward our customers that participate in our Circular Beauty Initiative, we will provide a discount code, to be used on their next purchase. You will find more information on how to return your packaging to us here.

Together, with your help, we can truly make a difference.

Nicole O’Sullivan 
Founder and Director

BEAUTY INDUSTRY WASTE 

The Beauty Industry has for too long used a linear model of TAKE, MAKE, WASTE. 

Taking from the Earth, virgin & non-renewable resources, and producing products that are designed to be single use (with the empty vessels being sent off to landfill, incinerated or polluting our world) has created a cycle of waste that needs to be addressed and fixed.

It is estimated that alone, the beauty industry is responsible for 120 billion units of waste every year, 95% of it is thrown out after just a single use, and only 14% of beauty plastic makes it to a Recycling Centre. 

We understand how confusing it is for consumers to make sustainable choices when even brands using virgin plastic highlight that their products are 100% recyclable but what they fail to mention is that they are not necessarily curb side collectible. Often, we think that we are doing the right thing by putting our skincare products in the recycling bin at home, however often these products are not accepted by general recycling and waste facilities and can often contaminate an entire batch of recyclable products. There are many grades of plastic to consider and it’s really important to know that when you recycle plastic, even just once, its polymer chain grows shorter. If you recycle it another 1-2 times, its polymer chain will become too short and thus lose its quality, making it unrecyclable. So, we can only recycle plastic 2-3 times before it becomes unrecyclable.

CIRCULAR BEAUTY

A Circular Beauty model is ultimately about reducing waste and reusing a bottle or jar repeatedly instead of creating a new vessel each time a product is created. The aim is to stop waste and unnecessary packaging from being produced in the first place and to reduce carbon emissions. 

Generally, circular beauty brands offer refills (fill at home) or encourage customers to return the product packaging to be cleaned, sterilised and reused. This is the most powerful change that the beauty industry and business can make to reduce waste and ultimately carbon emissions. 

In a properly built circular economy, one should actually focus on avoiding the recycling stage at all costs. It may sound straightforward but “preventing waste from being created in the first place is the only realistic strategy.” - World Economic Forum.

The circular economy is also based on using renewable energy and materials wherever possible (solar, wind etc.) as well as following the reduce, reuse and recycle model.

FOR OUR PART IN THE CIRCULAR BEAUTY MODEL, WE FOLLOW THE FOLLOWING PROCESSES:

Reduce – The amount of waste created by avoiding plastic-based designs, single used plastics etc. Our bottles and jars are made from Miron glass / glass which is infinitely recyclable. By offering refills and reusing containers we reduce the amount of new bottles/ jars that are produced. 

Reuse and Recycle – Undamaged glass containers returned to us at no cost to the consumer via a carbon neutral postal service will be cleaned, sterilised and reused, while all the plastic components will be recycled by us through TerraCycle . 

We are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and currently we manufacture our products in a studio that relies on solar energy. All our shipping boxes are recycled, tape is water activated (therefore recyclable), our stickers are paper based and even the bubble wrap we use for wholesale orders is biodegradable. We recycle or reuse as much material wastes as we can and we strive to do even better so we will keep you updated along our sustainability journey. If you are interested in receiving updates about this, please feel free to follow us on Instagram or Facebook or sign up to our newsletter.