When packaging is absolutely necessary, we make it count. When considering packaging, as we consider all end of life challenges for our business, we are focused on eliminating waste, circulating our materials at their highest value and regenerating nature. To eliminate waste, we invented naked products. To circulate our materials, we used recycled materials and built our Bring It Back program. To regenerate nature, we collaborated with our suppliers on the regenerative farming of some of our ingredients. We have been on this journey for over 15 years, leaving the world lusher than we found it by weaving our business practices back into nature’s cycles

Circular Materials

In the UK, we’ve been using recycled plastic since 2008 with our other manufacturing sites following. Our black pots in the UK have been made of 95% recycled plastic since 2008. Our North American black pots have used 95% recycled plastic since 2009. Japan and Australia followed with their black pots in 2010 and then Croatia in 2017.

Recently, we have successfully switched the colour additive (known as the master batch) to a recycled source, making our UK black pots 100% recycled. A great achievement that we hope to roll out to our other markets soon. We are also looking at the plastic in some of our more complex packaging items. Take our spray bottles for example, the bottle itself (the bit that holds the product) is made from 98% recycled materials, but the pump that is used to disperse the product is more complex as it is made from multiple different materials including mixed plastic types and glass. 

Most of our pesky pumps, virgin until recently, now have 30-60% recycled content. Perfume spritzers, Shield & Willow and the 100ml Super Milk are still a work in progress.

Bring It Back

When it comes to contributing to a circular economy, the last financial year saw customers return nearly 2.7 million pieces of packaging through our Bring it Back scheme, an average return figure of 15%, and a total of 63.5 tonnes of plastic processed. FY24 also saw the sales of nearly 18 million ‘naked’ items, close to 64% of unit sales, with countries in Europe leading the trend. We signed off increased recycled content for our sprayers and pumps to between 55-65% recycled content, moving us closer to our goal of 100% recycled plastic packaging for all categories. 

Through a combination of having our inhouse recycling centre in the UK & the use of 3rd party vendors with better end of life for waste we were able to reach a total diversion rate of 68.4% for our overall global manufacturing waste through recycling, composting or reuse.

Our gifts make up for it with recycled paper, cotton rags, agriculture waste like banana fibre, knot-wraps from recycled bottles, and ribbons from plastic bottles in use.

Between 2023 and 2025, 70% of gift packaging items in our range was made from recycled materials. 

Recycled materials also appear in our shop fit-outs. Floor tiles with 40% recycled content, surfaces from recycled yoghurt pots and PPE, and lighting fixtures specially designed for us with 60% recycled content.

Currently all our markets, except North America, are using Prevented Ocean Plastic™ for our clear bottles (excluding the label and lid). This is a certified recycled PET plastic made from plastic that has been collected within 50km of an ocean coastline or major waterway that would otherwise be at risk of entering and polluting oceans. Every time a customer takes home a product in a clear plastic bottle marked with the POP trademark, they are helping to protect marine ecosystems and the coastal communities who are at the forefront of the effects of ocean plastic pollution.

The plastic used for our clear bottles comes from Indonesia, where a lack of waste management and recycling infrastructure is already being overwhelmed by tourism and a growing population, creating a significant threat of plastic contamination to their wildlife and ecosystems. Plastic bottles are collected from at-risk areas by bottle collectors and delivered to a Prevented Ocean Plastic™ collection centre. These plastic bottles are sorted and pressed for easier transportation, then sent to recycling factories that sanitise them before processing them into raw material pellets. These pellets are then sent to our plastic bottle manufacturer in the UK where they are turned into beautifully clear, high quality recycled plastic bottles!

80% of the plastic polluting our oceans comes from land based sources in developing coastal communities. Once this plastic enters the ocean, it breaks down into smaller particles, becoming extremely difficult to track and remove. Packaging made from Prevented Ocean Plastic™ works to stop harm to marine life and ecosystems before It even enters the ocean.