Plastic vs Aluminium Bottles, GCSEs & LCAs

With GSCEs in full swing, I found myself supporting revision – last week it was Biotechnology & Crop production – how do we ensure we can feed ourselves as a world & this week, it’s been Chemistry.  

I was blown away to see how much the curriculum has changed since 1980’s when I sat mine. I was also really pleased to see how many topics were based around sustainability & environmental challenges.  

Sustainability & the impact on products that we manufacture should be a central consideration when launching products, be they a car, a bottle of milk or even a deodorant, especially as studies have shown that Gen Z shape their purchasing decisions around considerations that impact on the environment & our gorgeous planet.  

Here at Salt of the Earth, sustainability is key to our manufacturing – & we constantly strive to do more & better. We are proud that all our products made here in the UK, are certified to the COSMOS Natural Standard by the Soil Association.  This certification means that the sourcing and production of ingredients and products have been assessed to be environmentally sustainable with this being checked by a third party (Soil Association).  Packaging materials are also checked & only non-toxic & biodegradable cleaning products can be used in the manufacturing facilities. They even require an environmental management plan to ensure as much waste as possible is reduced, reused or recycled.   

We were one of the first companies to pioneer deodorant refills, back in 2013.  In 2020, we switched our spray bottle to use 50% recycled plastic & 50% sugarcane-based biopolymer. Two years later, we launched a refillable roll-on, another world first.  We all know that plastic pollution is an ever growing global challenge, so avoiding single use plastic by refilling and recycling helps to alleviate this.   

We have also developed plastic free options, in card and glass, for those wanting to avoid plastic.  But have you ever stopped to ask yourself when you are trying to make a sustainable informed selection – which is the best one to go for?  

• Is a glass jar really a more sustainable choice?  
• Has your head been turned by the stylish aluminium bottles rapidly appearing on the market?  

How much energy is used to make these? Which one has the lower carbon footprint? Which is more easily recycled if we are unable to reuse it as it is.  

The Chemistry revision reminded me of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Report, commissioned by Spectra Packaging, who supply us with HDPE plastic spray bottles, so I thought I would share it!  

An LCA is a scientific study caried out to measure the environmental impact of a product across its whole life cycle, from the resources used to create the product, across its use by the user, to its final end of life destination.