Ditch the plastic!Updated a month ago
At Dr. Bronner's, we're passionate about reducing our environmental footprint! We currently use 100% post-consumer recycled (PCR) polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and jugs for the majority of our products. We have been using 100% PCR PET bottles for more than ten years, long before this was common in the personal care industry.
Post-consumer recycled plastic bottles are made from plastic collected through curbside pickup. This means that some of our bottles may contain plastic from old Dr. Bronner’s bottles!
By turning used plastic bottles into new plastic bottles and products, we help conserve virgin resources, reduce landfills, and capitalize on the energy already invested in making existing plastic products. Recycling one ton of PET containers saves 7.4 cubic yards of landfill space!
“Bottle-to-bottle” recycling, the recycling of plastic bottles into new bottles, is also uncommon. Most of the time, the plastic picked up on curbsides is “downcycled,” shipped to countries like China, where it is used to make synthetic fabrics for carpets and clothes, then shipped back to the United States for sale. Bottle-to-bottle recycling helps close the loop and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
To pair with our PET bottles, we have launched our 32 oz. Pure-Castile Liquid Soap Refill Carton. Now the most ecological soap is in the most eco-friendly packaging. Each 32 oz. Refill Carton uses over 85% less plastic than one of our PCR 32 oz. bottles. The intention is to offer customers the option to refill their existing PCR bottles with containers that have a much smaller environmental footprint. To read more about how we achieved this, visit our website.
We also continue to keep a close eye on innovations in bioplastics research. Bioplastics use renewable resources, such as plants and bacteria, to produce plastic that would otherwise be derived from petroleum. However, this technology is still in its early stages and has not yet produced plastics resilient enough for our purposes. Energy intensity and feedstock matter a great deal as well. Currently, it is still more energy-intensive to turn plants into plastic than to recycle used plastic.
Bioplastics made from pesticide-intensive non-organic sugar, potato, or GMO corn may not offer a sustainability advantage over 100% post-consumer recycled plastics. The best container for liquids may be glass, but since most of our products are used in wet, potentially slippery locations, glass is not a viable option for us. Not to mention, glass is very heavy, and the greenhouse gas emissions from transporting it are significant compared to those of transporting plastic, which is relatively light.
Beyond this, we encourage our customers to reuse their packaging whenever possible or to recycle it appropriately should reusing it prove difficult. We're excited to share that our teams are currently researching and piloting bulk refill programs so our customers can refill their empty bottles with soap rather than throw them away. All-One!