The world’s number one shampoo brand Head & Shoulders was the recipient of a UN Momentum for Change award in the Planetary Health category. The award recognises novel solutions that balance the need for both human health and a healthy planet.
The Momentum for Change initiative, spearheaded by the UN Climate Change secretariat, shines light on some of the most innovative, scalable and practical examples of what people across the globe are doing to combat climate change.
In June 2017, in partnership with TerraCycle and SUEZ, Head & Shoulders launched the world’s first recyclable shampoo bottle made with 25% recycled beach plastic, considered a technological breakthrough. Through this partnership, P&G has brought about the largest solution to ocean plastic to date (in terms of volume and % used in the package) thanks to the support of thousands of volunteers and hundreds of NGOs that collected plastic waste found on beaches.
Compared to the standard model of producing virgin plastic, the innovation is less energy intensive and emits 60% less CO2 throughout the production process. Additionally, P&G announced that in Europe by end of 2018 more than half a billion bottles per year will include up to 25% post-consumer recycled plastic. This represents more than 90% of all the hair care bottles sold in Europe across P&G’s hair care portfolio of flagship brands like Pantene and Head & Shoulders.
The launch of the Head & Shoulders Beach Bottle has inspired other brands and industries to follow suit. Such is the case of the UK’s #1 dish washing brand Fairy which recently launched a recyclable bottle made with plastic collected from the beach. We are aware that the milk industry in France is now planning on commercializing grey coloured milk bottles made with recycled plastic.
"We are humbled to receive this award from the United Nations together with our partners TerraCycle and SUEZ. It encourages us to expand this pilot further and to continue the journey of innovating on circular economy solutions. The launch of the world’s first recyclable shampoo bottle made with beach plastic shines a light on scalable solutions to diverting waste from landfill and beaches. We are confident this project will continue inspiring other brands and industries to find solutions to the issue of plastic waste,” said Lisa Jennings, VP Head & Shoulders and Sustainability Hair Care, Procter & Gamble.
“I am very excited to receive this award and partner with the world’s #1 shampoo brand Head & Shoulders in what is the most significant solution to marine plastic that we have ever seen. Plastic waste is a monumental global issue that needs to be addressed with urgency. Almost everything in the world is made from plastic and only 2% of the world’s plastic is recycled, with much of it ending up in waterways and ultimately in the ocean,” said Tom Szaky, CEO, TerraCycle.
“As a leader for the recovery of waste into high quality Secondary Raw Material and green energy, SUEZ aims to protect the environment by eliminating the idea of residual waste. The Head & Shoulders beach bottle is a landmark solution that prevents 60% of CO2 emissions from being emitted compared to using virgin HDPE and uses 85% less fossil fuel energy. We are honoured to receive this award with our partners TerraCycle and Head & Shoulders,” added Jean-Marc Boursier, Group Senior Executive VP, in charge of the Recycling & Recovery Europe Division, SUEZ.
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