- Our colour bottles have always had an element of Post Consumer Recycled (PCR) plastic, they are currently 25% and will be 100% by 2020.
- Care products will be moving to 100% PCR plastic in early 2020.
- Cartons for our treatments are manufactured from recycled card.
- We use biodegradable chips that dissolve in water!
- Boxes for transporting our product are manufactured from recycled card.
- Paper tape is being used instead of cellotape in our dispatch department. The adhesive is also a natural gum, which means the complete tape is recyclable, saving 90 miles of tape a year going to landfill!
- Plastic containers and excess cardboard are sent to a dedicated recycler.
- As a company we encourage the use of car sharing and public transport with a Green Scheme.
- The company has taken on 2 fully electric and 2 hybrid cars for staff that are on the road a lot.
- The factories lights moved to LED with sensors that monitor movement.
- Our bottles are all fully recyclable.
- We use ethically sourced ingredients in all of our products.
- We have a Volume Refill to save on throwing a pump away every time.
- We have paper bags instead of plastic bags.
- We are a UK based manufacturer so no air miles are involved for UK salons.
- We offer Eco Towels which are biodegradable and save on electricity and water.
- We offer Thermal Booster Hats as an alternative to electric heated appliances.
- Some of our salons reuse our bottles as planters.
As you can see we are proud to shout about our green credentials but these aren’t things we have just started doing. Being green has been at the forefront of our brand since its origin as we don’t believe anything should have to suffer for beauty. Not the animals. Not the planet. Not you.
If you do choose to offer retail refills in-salon here are our recommendations:
- When using 900ml bottles to refill, record the product’s batch number on your client’s record card. This ensures product traceability.
- Always ensure the refilled bottle’s label is legible, including all required warnings, instructions and other legal information.
- Make sure the correct product is going into the correct bottle.
- Only wash refill bottles out if you can use a dishwasher that runs at 60 degrees centigrade or 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Alternatively, use boiling water. Do not wash with tap water.
- To avoid bacterial contamination unwashed bottles should not be refilled more than 3 times.
There are some other easy ways to reduce packaging waste in-salon as well:
- Encourage the sale of 900ml sizes. The pump can be reused for many years and your client can choose to refill their smaller size bottles and containers at home themselves.
- Remember to sell Volume Refill to returning Volume clients. It’s not only cheaper for them to purchase, but it stops the pump from the original bottle (the only part of the packaging that is not recyclable) being thrown into landfill.
Waste reduction is a core driver for Organic Colour Systems’ founder and Managing Director, Raoul Perfitt.
“If I get my way, we’ll eventually have a closed loop recycling system with our bottles returned directly to us,” Raoul says. “They would then become the PCR pellets our bottles are made from. This level of traceability would see us in total control of our packaging; we’d know it’s not ending up in landfills.”
