Sustainable supplement packaging - I'm Green™ sugarcane plastic

Blog / The Blog / Sustainable supplement packaging - I'm Green™ sugarcane plastic

September 01, 2022

As a B Corp Certified business, we’re committed to creating sustainable beauty products and wellness supplements. We know that one of the biggest challenges in the personal care and beauty industry is packaging. This is why we carried out a full review of our supplement packaging in 2020 which led us to replace our traditional plastic supplement containers with I’m Green™ sustainable supplement containers that are made from 100% Sugarcane Plastic. Sugarcane Plastic is a climate-positive raw material - using it helps us reduce the amount of plastic that’s made from non-renewable resources.

Why did we decide this is the best supplement packaging?

Traditional plastic is typically made from oil or natural gas which are non-renewable resources. Extracting the oil and gas and then the process of turning it into plastic, releases carbon which is contributing to climate change and global warming. We’re striving to be a sustainable beauty brand, so we knew we needed to minimise our environmental impact by decreasing the amount of traditional plastic being created through our supply chain.

We did lots of research and looked into other ethical beauty brands and supplement packaging design options and did a full review of all the packaging solutions available to us. What we found is that there is no perfect packaging! Every different type had pros and cons which we’ve outlined in the table at the bottom of this blog. For us, we decided to stick with plastic because we found a mush more sustainable supplement packaging option - plastic made entirely from sugarcane! This renewable resource has a climate-positive carbon footprint because sugarcane removes CO² from the air as it grows.

The sustainably and ethically-sourced sugarcane is sourced from Brazil as a byproduct of the sugarcane industry. It’s then milled and turned into sugarcane ethanol which is used to create the Sugarcane Plastic raw material. The processing facilities that make sugarcane ethanol operate nearly entirely on energy that comes from sugarcane by-products, and any surplus energy is sent to the grid. The raw material is delivered in bulk to our packaging manufacturer where it gets moulded into our sustainable supplement packaging.

Sustainable Sugarcane Plastic graphic model to show the manufacturing process

How to recycle sugarcane plastic packaging

Although our supplement containers are made from 100% sugarcane, the plastic still performs in the same was as traditional #2 HDPE plastic. It’s sturdy, lightweight and food safe and can be recycled almost everywhere (unlike some other bio-based plastics).

As a sustainable beauty brand, we’re very aware that recycling is not always guaranteed - even though the plastic is accepted by nearly all council recycling programmes. In fact, up to 40% of all collected plastic still ends up in landfills and dumps. So, we created the Jeuneora Recycling Programme! This ensures that your empties will never see a landfill! Here’s how to get involved:

1. Get a free pre-addressed Jeuneora Return Bag from our online store. Click here to add one to your cart.

2. Collect your empty Jeuneora packaging over the next few months and pop it in the Return Bag.

3. In NZ: Drop your full Return Bag at your local post office. In Aus: Book a pick up for your full Return Bag with DHL from your location of choice - click here.

The plastic is then sorted before our recycling partners shred, wash and melt it down into raw materials that are used to create useful things like outdoor furniture, children's playgrounds and fence posts.

Woman scooping Beauty Sleep Super Powder from pottle into the a glass

Which of our products use this sustainable supplement packaging?

Our supplement containers are made from Sugarcane Plastic. The lids are unable to be made from Sugarcane Plastic, so they’re made from traditional #2 HDPE. You can shop these I’m Green™ products here:

Jeuneora supplement containers sitting on kitchen bench

Sustainable supplements packaging comparisons

Here are a few of the pros and cons that we considered before deciding to stick with a sustainable plastic for our supplement containers.

	Pros	Cons
Traditional plastic containers that we used before we switched (#2 HDPE)	Accepted nearly everywhere for recycling. Completely recyclable through the Jeuneora Recycling Programme It's light, lowering freight costs and carbon footprint. Containers were made in New Zealand. It's food-grade safe and has a long shelf life, which lowers food waste. Can be made with recycled plastic. Plastic production has a lower environmental footprint than glass.	Although accepted nearly everywhere for curbside recycling, this is not always the case which is why we started the Jeuneora. Recycling Programme. Made from non-renewable resources - e.g oil. Cannot be infinitely recycled.
Our new I'm Green™ sugarcane plastic containers (HDPE #2)	Accepted nearly everywhere for recycling. Completely recyclable through the Jeuneora Recycling Programme It's light, lowering freight costs and carbon footprint. Containers were made in New Zealand. It's food-grade safe and has a long shelf life, which lowers food waste. Made from renewable resources: sustainably and ethically sourced from Brazil as a byproduct of the sugarcane industry. Sugarcane captures CO2 from the air as it grows, reducing its carbon footprint. The sugarcane byproducts are used as an energy source. Plastic production has a lower environmental footprint than glass.	Although accepted nearly everywhere for curbside recycling, this is not always the case which is why we started the Jeuneora. Recycling Programme. Cannot be infinitely recycled.
Our traditional plastic lids and scoops (#5 PP). We have to use these with our new I'm Green™ containers	Accepted nearly everywhere for recycling. Completely recyclable through our TerraCycle scheme. It's light, lowering freight costs and carbon footprints. Lids and scoops are made in New Zealand They're food-grade safe and have a long shelf life (lowering food waste). Plastic production has a lower environmental footprint than glass.	Although accepted nearly everywhere for curbside recycling, this is not always the case which is why we started the Jeuneora. Recycling Programme. Made from non-renewable resources - e.g oil. Cannot be infinitely recycled.
Glass containers	Easily and readily recycled. It can be endlessly recycled. It's food-grade safe and has a long shelf life (lowering food waste), but clear glass can affect shelf life due to light contamination.	It's very heavy and it's nearly always shipped ready-made from overseas - increasing freight costs and carbon footprint. Glass production has a higher environmental footprint than plastic production. Glass is made from silica sand. Sand is now being used faster than it can be replenished and there is a global sand shortage. It breaks easily, resulting food waste and safety issues in transit. The lids are not always accepted for or able to be recycled.
Cardboard tubes or paper pouches		This one we immediately ruled out because it's not food-grade safe due to oxygen transfer. To guarantee shelf life and safety, cardboard tubes and pouches must be lined with plastic, foil or tin which makes the packaging a non-recyclable mixed material.
Mixed materials (e.g carboard tubes or pouches that are lined with thin tin, plastic or foil.	It's typically light, lowering freight costs and carbon footprint. It's food-grade safe and has a long shelf life (lowering food waste).	Completely unable to be recycled due to the mixed nature of the packaging. Often shipped ready made from overseas - increasing freight costs and carbon footprint. Tin (aluminium) needs to be mined which can be associated with human rights issues and the devastation of ecosystems.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230427-glass-or-plastic-which-is-better-for-the-environment

More of our sustainable beauty initiatives

On our journey to be a sustainable and ethical beauty brand we’re committed to making continuous improvements to our sustainability practices - especially as a newly certified B Corp Here are just a few of the initiatives we’re most proud of:

We carefully vet any suppliers and manufacturers that we work with to make sure they adhere to the highest standards when it comes to sustainable sourcing and business practices and protecting their employees through fair and safe labour practices.
Our manufacturers are all GMP/MPI certified
Saying no to animal testing for our skincare range
Being a Living Wage certified employer
Guaranteed recycling with the Jeuneora Recycling Programme
Giving back $1 to charity with every order made
Using Fairtrade Cocoa in Beauty Sleep
Using 20% recycled plastic in skincare packaging