LIVING OUR VALUES
Values repOrt 2009
REDUCINg PACkAgINg AND wASTE
the retail sector has taken significant criticism over the last few years for the use of excessive packaging and in some cases,
rightly so. this is a debate we have been engaged in for many years - one of our most innovative and iconic approaches to
reducing packaging was to offer refills for customers, avoiding the need to buy new bottles and jars. increased safety legislation
in most markets has meant that we cannot offer this service any longer. however, we are constantly striving to find other
innovative ways of reducing our packaging waste and limiting our environmental impact:
REDUCE - the most effective way of reducing our impact is to use as little packaging as possible in the first place. for the
vast majority of products we use simple bottles and jars, with no secondary packaging.
REUSE - most of our gift packaging can be used again – some of our Community trade boxes can even be used as gifts
in themselves.
INCREASE RECYCLED CONTENT - recycling to reduce the environmental impact of our packaging is not always practical.
using recycled material, we can cut the overall resource use significantly, without depending on customers to bring back
waste for recycling.
fIND ALTERNATIvE mATERIALS - some materials are less damaging to the environment than others – we are constantly
investigating these new materials.
RECYCLINg - most of our packaging can be recycled through standard household and business recycling systems.
UPDATE ON PROgRESS
wHAT wE SAID wE wOULD DO wHAT wE DID
65% of our packaging assortment will contain recycled 2007 - 42%
content by year end 2008 2008 - 50%
We will double the recycled content of all of our pet bottles We first launched 100% recycled pet bottles and are
by year-end 2008 (currently 30%) implementing where appropriate – other bottles are being
changed to 60% recycled pet bottle
Communicate a company wide strategy on waste and We have made many tactical improvements and are
packaging by year-end 2008 formulating strategy, that will be formalised in 2009
85% of our Love Your Body™ card members surveyed said that it was
“very important” that we included recycled material in our packaging
37