Pantene Bottles Use Plant-Based Plastic

Pantene goes green!

Pantene will gradually incorporate plant-based plastic into their packaging.

The first containers of Pantene to use plant-based plastic shipped to Western Europe this month. Procter & Gamble is gradually beginning to replace petroleum-based Pantene bottles with containers that use plant-based plastic (sourced from sugarcane).

While consumers mostly likely won’t be able to tell the difference between a "green" bottle and the traditional packaging, green labels call out the company's eco-efforts. Pantene is planning on rolling out the new packaging over the next 18 months through 180 countries.

The packaging update decreases fossil fuel consumption by 70 percent compared to the traditional packaging process (not a renewable resource). "This new manufacturing process also reduces the amount of greenhouse gas released by 170 percent," says Len Sauers, P&G's vice president of sustainability. In addition, the facility that manufactures the new packaging runs almost exclusively on energy from sugarcane byproducts. “They even produce excess energy that is returned to the grid,” according to Hanneke Faber, P&G's vice president and general manager of Global Hair.

The cost of these green bottles is higher than the old packaging, but not high enough to impact this beauty giant's financial results. A statement from Pantene says: “It is an investment to be at the forefront and as the technology becomes more mainstream [costs will decrease]. As the world’s biggest hair care brand, we need to be there first. We are responsible for healthy hair and also a healthy world.”

While P&G’s green efforts trace back to the '50s, they released their first formal vision of sustainable beauty in 2007. We applaud Pantene for making a step towards more sustainable and innovative manufacturing, and hope more beauty big shots will follow suit. Happy Earth Day, Beauties!

story source from wwd.com