Many think that glass packaging is the best choice for any company. Especially zero waste community advocates for glass usage as your cosmetic packaging. After all glass can be recycled infinite amount of times and considered sustainably packaging - but is it?
After many research we came to conclusion to limit the glass bottles and jars to minimum. And there is why:
1. Even though the glass can be recycled infinitely, collection of glass is very poor in the US. The main reasons for that are high cost of transport of heavy glass, high contamination and processing costs. Many cities eliminate glass from curbside programs, forcing residents to bring their glass recyclables to drop-off sites. This is serious issue and we hope those trends will change in the future.
2. Glass is produced by rapidly heating and cooling raw material. This process requires usage of high amounts of fossil fuels and energy to obtain the high temperatures needed.
3. Packaging and shipping cost of glass is much higher. Glass is heavy and fragile therefore it needs additional packaging materials. Carbon footprint of glass is significantly higher than lightweight plastic.
The decision to limit glass packaging was not an easy one for us. At this time we see more potential in recycling of the plastic containers that we use and more of a positive effect on environment than using glass. We are striving to create more products that will not require packaging at all or we can utilize paper packaging, eg. our shampoo bars, soap bars, solid hair conditioners and face cleansing bars.
When choosing packaging we also have to consider combability with our products. Therefore some of our face serums will still be packaged in glass bottles.
In the future we are hoping to partner up with recycling facilities that will accept ALL plastic containers without limits. We would love to offer recycling program to our customers so we can be more environmentally friendly and we all can do something good to Mother Earth! We will keep you updated!
Thanks!
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