For the longest time, we've been told the 3 key ways to be environmentally sustainable: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Stop taking more than what you require, clean and reuse whatever you have accumulated, and when all else fails, recycle. This seems to be a really good plan until we realise that our recycling process still lacks transparency, and there is simply a lack of demand for recycled materials. It has been reported that after China's ban on waste plastic import in 2017, Malaysia and Indonesia have been the main importers of recycling waste. With the drop in value of recycled plastic, the pile might be incinerated instead.
While we still encourage recycling over discarding something as trash, we should not over rely on it as the recycling process in Singapore still faces uncertainty.
Our concern for plastic waste has also risen since we launched our first liquid product, our alcohol hand sanitizer. With the peak demand for hand sanitizers in mid-February, we had to rush production and switch to a few packaging options of brown and clear plastic and glass bottles. We are aware of the bottles in circulation, and now, we want them back.
To reduce the use of virgin resources to make new bottles, we have teamed up with Eco.Le zero waste bulk store to stock up our hand sanitizers for refill. We believe that refillable options for our products is the best way to go, as it encourages consumers to reuse packaging they already have and buy only what they need.
In addition to cutting down on waste, Eco.Le is also our first bottle return partner for us to close our eco loop. We hope that with this effort to collect our old packaging for sanitising and refills of new products, we can create a strong circular economy for our products that require packaging.
We use recycled boxes to ship out orders as well!
Help us spread the new 3 Rs of Reduce, Reuse and Return! Drop off any of our old packaging at Eco.Le and always choose the refill option when you can! We're on the lookout for more opportunities for our refillable products and bottle return points, so do let us know if you would like to collaborate on that. We have more plans to make our business process even more sustainable, and we welcome any suggestions or comments!