The use by Henkel AG & Co KGaA of a more sustainable plastic that also supports a social cause, or Social Plastic®, in product packaging for its Beauty Care and Laundry & Home Care businesses has earned the global company and its partner, Plastic Bank, the coveted Dow Diamond Award. In 2017, Henkel became the first Consumer Packaged Goods company to partner with the social enterprise with the common objective of reducing plastic waste before it can enter the oceans, while at the same time improving the lives of those in poverty, especially in regions that lack waste management infrastructures. Since October 2018, Henkel has incorporated the resulting Social Plastic recycled materials into packaging for a number of its laundry detergent and household cleaner products. In late 2019, Henkel’s Nature Box became the first beauty brand to use Social Plastic, with up to 98% of its entire bottle portfolio consisting of the material.
According to Thorsten Leopold, Head of Global Packaging Innovation Home Care at Henkel, the Social Plastic Ecosystem partnership with Plastic Bank provides another avenue for Henkel to meet its ambitious packaging targets, which include making 100% of its packaging reusable or recyclable by 2025, as well as reducing the use of fossil-based virgin plastics in its packaging by half by the same year. “We want to promote a circular economy and contribute to avoiding plastic waste being disposed of in the environment,” he says. “Therefore, Henkel is supporting waste collection and investing in innovative solutions and technologies to promote recycling.
As part of the Social Plastic Ecosystem, Plastic Bank has established ethical recycling ecosystems in coastal communities in Haiti, the Philippines, and Indonesia, funded in part by Henkel. Waste collectors receive a premium for the materials they collect, which helps them provide basic family necessities, such as groceries, cooking fuel, school tuition, and health insurance. Plastic Bank’s certified blockchain platform secures the entire transaction and provides real-time data visualization, allowing for transparency, traceability, and rapid scalability.
When Henkel began using Social Plastic in 2018, it replaced from 25% to 50% of the material used in its packaging for select laundry detergent and home cleaner products with Social Plastic. “In our Laundry & Home Care portfolio, for example, we included 50% Social Plastic in bottles for our Pro Nature range, which were previously made of 100% recycled plastic from conventional sources,” explains Leopold. Henkel’s Vernel Fresh Control and Vernel Naturals likewise consist of 100% recycled plastic, 25% of which is Social Plastic.
