Global Recycling Day 2026: What will we recycle if nothing is recovered?
We celebrate recycling like it’s a given. We talk about it as a system that simply exists. Something reliable and always there. But here’s the uncomfortable question no one asks: What exactly are we recycling… if nothing is being recovered in the first place? Because recycling doesn’t begin in the bin. It begins in the […]
The business case for purpose: how credible impact drives brand growth, trust, and performance
Let’s get one thing out of the way: business purpose isn’t a brand “nice-to-have” anymore. Not because people suddenly got nicer, but because the market has changed. Consumers now expect brands to carry more of the sustainability load than individuals do. In NielsenIQ’s 2023 sustainability research, 46% of respondents said brands are most responsible for […]
Transforming Beauty: How to Make Your Cosmetic Brand More Sustainable
The beauty industry is under a magnifying glass, and for good reason. This sector generates over 120 billion units of packaging annually, most of which isn’t recyclable and ends up polluting the environment. Plastic packaging is particularly problematic, with an estimated 11 million metric tons of plastic entering the oceans each year, a figure projected to triple by 2040 […]
How Fast Fashion is Bad for the Environment
Yves Saint Laurent was once quoted as saying, “fashions fade, style is eternal.” Sadly, with the arrival of the fast fashion movement, fashion these days does not have a chance to fade, it is almost immediately replaced with something new, as quickly as it arrives. Coupled with the immediacy of social media, the need to […]
Sustainable Development: Challenges and Opportunities
Sustainable development has been on the agenda since the late 1980s and over that time much progress has been made in moving towards a world that is more sustainable. However, with population growth and issues surrounding climate change the challenges of sustainable development continue and its needs must be met with new initiatives. What […]
Cosmetic Industries Join For Planetary Health
The cosmetic industry is a thriving growth sector worth a staggering $511 billion in 2022, and growing at a rate of 4.75%. By 2025 it is expected to reach $785 billion. The cosmetic industry can be divided into four broad categories Cosmetics (or makeup) Skin care such as lotions […]
Plastic Credits: Safeguarding against “greenwashing” and false company eco-friendly / ESG claims
“Greenwashing”, or the exaggeration of claims by companies about their environmental, social and governance (ESG) achievements, is a growing problem in the ESG industry. Under pressure from consumers, shareholder and environmental groups, regulators are now looking at tightening rules when talking about environmental claims such as sustainability or neutral emissions[1]. To instill integrity and counter greenwashing claims in plastic credit programs (such […]
Australia’s first Indigenous-run marine plastic recycling enterprise
A whale preservation charity will fund Australia’s first Indigenous-run marine plastic recycling enterprise, transforming waste plastic into objects of desire. Gowings Whale Trust, the NFP environmental organisation started by Gowings, is financing the MiiMi Aboriginal Corporation to run a recycling operation for the Plastic Collective, giving recycled plastic a new life – out of our […]
Surfing towards Sustainability: Diving into WAW’s Ocean Plastic Supply Chain
Dreaming Big: Australia’s first Ocean Plastic Supply Chain Before WAW became a household name in the Australian surf industry, Rikki Gilbey was just another person dreaming big. What was driving him? Giving a new generation of bodysurfers a way to get barreled, while leaving nothing but a cleaner ocean in their wake. This is the […]
3 Questions Every Sustainability Professional Should Ask: Getting a Holistic View of your Products’ Impact
As a sustainability professional, we see more and more frameworks being introduced – each promises a direct path to positive impact. But which, out of hundreds of options, is the right path forward for your unique brand? We hear such questions a lot in the plastic solutions space. Regardless of whether you sit in cosmetics, […]