Packaging is something near and dear to our hearts at method. Long neglected as
merely "containment", method is known for giving home care products beautiful, vibrant,
even sexy packaging. What's less known is the greenness of our packaging.
Packaging sustainability is a core skill at method. And we don't just look at things
like recyclability or the latest "biodegradable" plastic. We actually dig deep to
understand what really happens to our packaging when you're done with it; and we
build that into what we design in the first place.
This can be a tough job, and it can be complex, but it's important. We don't just
want packaging that is recyclable, we want packaging that actually gets recycled.
To make sure that's what's happening, a few years ago we interviewed garbage collectors
and recyclers all around the country. We learned that certain colours like green,
very light blue, and clear, are most often recycled, while plastics like white PET
(water bottle plastic), a very common plastic used in green cleaning products, are
usually confused with their HDPE (think milk bottles) counterparts at recyclers
and actually end up in landfills. That's why you don't see any white PET method
bottles.
method employees with the silo to be installed and used to manufacture 100% recycled
plastic bottles
There has also been a lot of excitement in recent years about bio-plastics like
PLA. At method, we've run the numbers and determined what's really greener. We actually
can model the full lifecycle impact of traditional plastic vs. bio-plastic, to see
how the carbon footprints compare. As you can see, post-consumer PET has a very
low carbon footprint and is commonly accepted for recycling. Conversely, bio-plastics
cannot be recycled, can contaminate recycling streams or most often end up in landfills
where they are extremely slow to degrade.
This is an issue that our co-founder, Adam, has studied and written about in his blog. The end result is we've done
our homework, and determined that post-consumer PET is the best option available
today from a carbon footprint standpoint, from a waste standpoint, and from a land
use standpoint. We are, of course, always on the lookout for new, innovative materials
that may solve some of the issues that remain, and we have given guidance to the
Obama Administration advocating the development of more robust, nationwide recycling
and composting infrastructure.
We're proud of some of the innovations we've been able to bring to market, like
the very first 100% PCR, custom PET bottle,
and the first recyclable film packaging. But
we're constantly looking for ways to get better. If you've got an idea, please let us know!
