06.03.22
Wella Company, an innovative global leader in the beauty industry with a portfolio of iconic professional and retail hair, nail and cutting-edge beauty tech brands, is commemorating World Environment Day with the announcement of its corporate environmental commitments and advancements.
"As we mark World Environment Day, we declare our ambition to reduce our impact on the environment where it matters most,” said Hilary Crnkovich, chief sustainability and communications officer of Wella Company. “Our stakeholders have told us our greatest impact points are in our operations and in our product offerings. Therefore, reducing our negative impact related to climate, water, packaging, and waste is crucial. We believe our efforts will be not only actionable but attainable in the coming years.”
Wella Company is now a participant of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the world's largest initiative for sustainability in business. The company has committed to the UNGC corporate responsibility initiative and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the areas of human rights, labor, the environment, and anti-corruption, which are in line with our company values.
"Wella Company aims to be a purpose-driven company, embedding ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) at our core, becoming a force for good for our global community and all our stakeholders,” said Annie Young-Scrivner, CEO of Wella Company. “Since our first day as a standalone company just 18 months ago, we began working toward this goal. Participating in the UNGC was an important step to formally commit to advancing their Sustainable Development Goals.”
Environmental Commitments
Wella Company's environmental and social impact strategy focuses on three pillars: People, Planet and Products, addressed by several environmental commitments. The first is reducing its carbon footprint.
The company has set science-based targets for reducing carbon emissions and designed clear plans for meeting those goals. Abiding by the Paris Agreements and following the SBTi Standard of Baseline Maintenance, Wella commits to a carbon emission reduction of 28% by 2030, across scopes 1, 2 and 3. The company said it aims to accomplish that by reducing its scope 1 and 2 emissions (from its direct operations) by 46% and maintaining our scope 3 emissions (across our value chain) at the 2019 level (its pre-Covid-19 baseline).
The next is reducing water use. The company remains focused on reducing water use in its operations. It is committed to reducing its water consumption per unit produced in its owned facilities by 35% by 2030, reaching 25% by 2025. In addition, the company is conducting water risk assessments in the basins where we operate and will seek and implement innovative circular water solutions.
The third goal is eliminating waste. Wella’s initial focus is on reducing its waste production and impact from its operations. It is committed to reducing the amount of waste it creates per unit produced in its owned facilities by 35% by 2030, reaching 25% by 2025. Wella will reduce the impact by achieving Zero Waste to Landfill at all its owned sites where possible.
Another goal is reducing packaging use of virgin materials. Wella aims to reduce its use of virgin materials (plastics, aluminum, glass, and cardboard) in its packaging by 50% by 2030, reaching 30% by 2025. These reductions are compared against our 2019 baseline of total packaging by material weight.
The final environmental commitment is increasing packaging design for recyclability. Wella aims for 100% of its packaging to be recyclable, reusable, or refillable by 2030, reaching 80% by 2025.
Wella Explores Renewable Energy Technologies and More
Wella Company uses 100% renewable electricity in its Rothenkirchen plant and Weiterstadt Distribution Center (DC) with no offset. It aims to reduce the electricity used in its owned facilities per unit produced by 35% by 2030, reaching 25% by 2025. It has already begun implementing energy reduction plans in its owned DC and factories.
A goal is to purchase 100% renewable energy by fiscal year 2023 in all its owned facilities, where possible. Where buying renewable energy is not possible, the company is exploring implementing renewable energy technologies, including solar and other alternatives.
Moreover, its Nordic and UK markets have moved its full car fleets to electric vehicles, and the company is currently evaluating moving to 80% electric vehicles across such fleet.
Recycling Rate Increases at Owned Factories
Wella Company has already reached 100 percent Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWL) at its European Distribution Center (Weiterstadt) as well as at the plants in Thailand and Germany; the Mexico plant is at 85% ZWL. Wella is increasing the recycling rate at its owned factories and DC, and the Weiterstadt DC is sourcing 100% recyclable paper.
Across all Wella Company brands, the company is setting goals to reduce packaging and is following the 5 R's sustainable design principles supporting a circular economy – rethink, reduce, reuse, replace and recycle – for new packaging, wherever possible. Wella intends to partner with organizations that are driving technology development promoting circularity and recyclability.
The most recent example of this commitment is Wella hair's green alu tube packaging innovation, which won a World Packaging Organization (WPO) World Star 2022 Award for Professional Haircare Products this spring. Wella Company green tubes avoid the use of 700 tons of virgin aluminum, 180 tons of virgin plastic and 950 tons of virgin fiber cardboard. In 2021, its biggest brand, Wella Professionals, launched its sustainable packaging for its No.1 Koleston Perfect line and premium color brand Illumina Color with 100 percent recycled aluminum tubes, 85% recycled cardboard and close to 100% post-consumer recycled plastic caps. Wella Company sells one tube of Koleston Perfect every second around the world. These packaging innovations will soon expand to Clairol and Kadus products.
Wella’s plant-based EOS hair color is packaged in a 100% recyclable aluminum can. The Wella Elements brand introduced a new pouch format. These pouches are now recyclable and made with 25% recycled plastic and use 73% less plastic per milliliter than the one-liter bottles.
WeDo/ Professionals Solid Shampoos, which are sold with no plastic pack or water, rinse faster than liquids. All WeDo/ Professionals products are designed to be 100% recyclable and are made from up to 94% recycled plastic. The new one-liter pouch uses 73% less plastic per milliliter than a bottle. By partnering with the Plastic Bank, more than 370 tons of plastic have been removed from the environment since the weDo/ Professionals brand was created.
O·P·I Nature Strong Nail Lacquers come in bottles made with 20% post-consumer recycled (PCR) glass with caps containing 20 percent PCR plastic. O·P·I Nature Strong is the top-selling spring 2022 launch in all of color cosmetics in the US Food, Drug, Mass channel.
Ghd styling tools have improved the recyclability of their packaging with the outer box of its professional stylers now 100% recyclable for both core and limited-edition packs. They also launched their first 100% PCR bottle for the Bodyguard Mini Heat Protect Spray, with an ambition to expand PCR content across more products in the future.
Briogeo all-natural and eco-ethical haircare portfolio has incorporated PCR materials into over 95% of its bottles. They have also removed secondary packaging where possible for reduced shipping emissions and waste. All Briogeo.com orders are protected with recycled paper instead of plastic packing materials. Briogeo has also eliminated plastic windows from all travel and holiday kits for simplified recyclability.
Clairol Natural Instincts, Clairol Color Gloss and Clairol Blonde It Up use sustainably-sourced paperboard packaging that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
Wella Company is a member of the Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil, committed to responsibly source palm oil where possible and is working to increase the percentage of responsibly-sourced palm oil across its portfolio over the coming years.