Wella Joins UN Global Compact and Shares Environmental Commitments

Wella Company commemorates World Environment Day by announcing its corporate environmental commitments and advancements to date. Wella Company's portfolio includes beauty brands Wella Professionals, O·P·I, ghd, Briogeo, Nioxin, Sebastian Professional, and Clairol.

Wella Company is 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 its 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, chief executive officer 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.”

“As we mark World Environment Day, we declare our ambition to reduce our impact on the environment where it matters most," added 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.”

ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENTS

Wella Company’s environmental and social impact strategy focuses on three pillars: people, planet, and products, addressed by the following environmental commitments:

1. Reducing Carbon Footprint – We have taken the first steps in our commitment to reducing our environmental impact: comprehensively mapping our carbon footprint. From this we have set science-based targets for reducing our carbon emissions and designed clear plans for meeting those goals. Abiding by the Paris Agreements and following the SBTi Standard of Baseline Maintenance, we commit to a carbon emission reduction of 28% by 2030, across scopes 1, 2 and 3. We aim to accomplish that by reducing our scope 1 and 2 emissions (from our direct operations) by 46% and maintaining our scope 3 emissions (across our value chain) at the 2019 level (our pre-COVID baseline).
2. Reducing Water Use – We are first focusing on reducing water use in our operations. We commit to reducing our water consumption per unit produced in our owned facilities by 35% by 2030, reaching 25% by 2025. In addition, we are conducting water risk assessments in the basins where we operate and will seek and implement innovative circular water solutions.
3. Eliminating Waste – Our initial focus is on reducing our waste production and impact from our operations. We commit to reducing the amount of waste we create per unit produced in our owned facilities by 35% by 2030, reaching 25% by 2025. Further, we will reduce the impact by achieving Zero Waste to Landfill at all our owned sites where possible.
4. Reducing Packaging Use of Virgin Materials – We aim to reduce our use of virgin materials (plastics, aluminum, glass, and cardboard) in our packaging by 50% by 2030, reaching 30% by 2025. These reductions are compared against our 2019 baseline of total packaging by material weight.
5. Increasing Packaging Design for Recyclability – We aim for 100% of our packaging to be recyclable, reusable, or refillable by 2030, reaching 80% by 2025.

PROGRESS TO DATE: CARBON

Actions already taken and will continue toward meeting those goals include:

1. Wella Company uses 100% renewable electricity in our Rothenkirchen plant and our Weiterstadt Distribution Center with no offset. We aim to reduce the electricity used in our owned facilities per unit produced by 35% by 2030, reaching 25% by 2025. We have already begun implementing energy reduction plans in our owned DC and factories.
2. Our goal is to purchase 100% renewable energy by FY23 in all our owned facilities, where possible. Where buying renewable energy is not possible, we are exploring implementing renewable energy technologies, including solar and other alternatives.
3. Our Nordic and UK markets have moved their full car fleets to electric vehicles, and the company is currently evaluating moving to 80% electric vehicles across our full fleet.

PROGRESS TO DATE: WASTE

Wella Company has already reached 100% Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWL) at our European Distribution Center (Weiterstadt) as well as at the plants in Thailand and Germany; the Mexico plant is at 85% ZWL. We are increasing the recycling rate at our 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. The company 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 Wella Professionals, launched its sustainable packaging for the Koleston Perfect line and premium color brand Illumina Color with 100% recycled aluminum tubes, 85% recycled cardboard, and close to 100% post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic caps. These packaging innovations will soon expand to Clairol and Kadus products.

More examples of the company's progress includes the following: 

• 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 mL than the 1-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 1-liter pouch uses 73% less plastic per milliliter than a bottle. And 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% PCR plastic. 
• ghd styling tools have improved the recyclability of their packaging, with the outer box of their 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 95% of their 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).

Finally, 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.

Originally posted on Modern Salon