The Sustainability Report 2021
Packaging
With the heavy use of packaging in the skin care industry, we are very concerned with the packaging we use and we are constantly trying to challenge our status quo by exploring new options and finding less polluting alternatives.
The development of packaging can be demanding which means that we do not succeed with all of our projects. Back in the days, many of our products were stored in glass jars where some experienced growth and bacteria in the products due to their low content of preservatives. Our certifications set requirements for the amount of preservatives allowed in our products and we do the same ourselves.
In this section you can read more about our current packaging and how we are working to improve it.
What our certifications demand from our packaging
Our main certifications Ecocert COSMOS Organic and the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, which many of our products carry, set requirements not only for the ingredients in our products, but also the packaging in which they are stored. As of now we are using plastic, glass, cardboard and paper.
Every time we use recycled materials for our packaging, we use food contact certified materials which allows us to fulfill the requirements of our certifications and ensure that no harmful chemicals penetrate our products that could potentially affect you and the environment.
All the packaging we use, from the cardboard box you receive with your purchase, to the tube that stores the cream, can be recycled through your local public waste sorting. We encourage you to follow your local waste sorting options and sort your waste correctly - by doing so we can make sure that we together make use of the materials' full potential. You can stay updated about your options for waste sorting via your local municipality.
Our packaging
We use the following types of plastic; PE, PP, LDPE and HDPE and PET. When we use plastic, we strive to only use pure types of plastic, which means that it is not mixed with other types of plastic or other materials. By doing so, we ensure the materials’ ability to be recycled as long as you sort it correctly.
With the development in packaging and the EU Directive regarding packaging and packaging waste, stating that 50% of all plastic packaging must be recycled by 2025, we continuously focus on incorporating more recycled plastic into our packaging and still live up to the requirements set by our certifications. All the recycled materials we use are certified for food contact because this ensures that the packaging does not contain harmful chemicals and meets the requirements of our certifications.
We also use glass for our packaging because of its high degree of recyclability. Although it is difficult to transport and energy-intensive to manufacture, some of the overall environmental footprint is offset by the fact that good and efficient systems for returning and recycling glass have been implemented today, especially in the Nordic countries, but also in future emerging markets.
From the spring of 2022, we will convert the production of large parts of our glass packaging to recycled glass. Many Rudolph Care products stored in glass will be produced in this new recycled glass packaging once our current stock is exhausted.
We are actively working with SDG no. 15, which seeks to protect and restore endangered ecosystems. That’s why we only support responsible forestry, by only using recycled materials as well as C2C and FSC-certified cardboard and paper. Most often there is a high collection and recycling percentage for cardboard and paper in Denmark, through the public waste sorting, and we encourage you to make use of this and sort cardboard and paper.
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4 dogmas for the development of future packaging
We want to be part of finding and developing new packaging alternatives that have a lower climate impact than today's alternatives. To help drive our work with future packaging we have adopted 4 dogmas that will guide our work with the development of new packaging alternatives and guide which packaging projects we choose to enter into.
The material must have as low a climate impact as possible.*
The material must be renewable (e.g. stem from plants) and not originate from a limited resource that the planet eventually will run out of.
The material must not be made from plants grown by intensive deforestation for the same purpose.
The material must be able to be reused, composted, biogasified and / or recycled.
The perfect solution for packaging with a lower climate impact does not yet exist, but we want to be engaged in the development, based on our four dogmas, and continue to provide information on how our packaging should be disposed of so that the climate is burdened as little as possible.
* CO2 neutral during growth and degradation, and as low a CO2 impact as possible during manufacturing.
Future packaging
Below you can read more about how we are working to improve our packaging based on these 4 dogmas.
We have ambitions to rethink many of our packaging choices and change them to alternatives with a lower environmental impact. In 2021, as part of our work with packaging, we signed and initiated an agreement with a third party to have independent life cycle assessments prepared on all our packaging types.
A life cycle assessment is a tool that can be used to calculate the climate impact of a specific product. These life cycle assessments will give us independent assessments of our packaging’s climate impact. To ensure the validity of these assessments, they will be checked by an independent third party before we use the data.
These assessments are essential for our future work with packaging as they will provide us with an informed basis on which we can make decisions and ensure that our good intentions actually work.
Part of our work with packaging includes starting or participating in projects based on our 4 dogmas regarding the development of future packaging solutions. In 2021, we initiated a collaboration with a manufacturer to develop an alternative type of packaging, based on a surplus material from nature. The project is still in its early phase and will unfold further during 2022 and 2023. Follow Rudolph Care's LinkedIn if you want to learn more about the project.
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How are we improving our packaging?
New packaging for 400 ml bottles
As part of our process of increasing the proportion of recycled plastic in our packaging, we will in 2022 be launching our Açai Body Lotion Limited Edition and two of our sun products in a new 400 ml packaging with a bottle made from 100% recycled PET plastic (rPET ).
Our hair products are today kept in a bottle made of 100% PE plastic, with a pump consisting of PP plastic and metal parts for the pump function*. When our current stock of these products has been used up, we will start using a new bottle consisting of a minimum of 70% recycled PET plastic. At the moment, there is a high demand for this recycled PET plastic which means that our supplier cannot guarantee a bottle in 100% recycled PET plastic, at our next production of hair products in 2023.
*Metal is automatically sorted from the plastic at the waste sorting facility in Denmark. Remember to always stay updated on your local waste sorting regulations.