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OC Naturals solves a common problem with sustainable bottle design

Image of soap bottles

Australian company Natures Organics has manufactured a sustainable bottle for its OC Naturals Hand and Body Wash range that is 100 per cent recyclable.

And in doing so, the company has overcome a common problem with such containers – eliminating the black carbon tint.

“Natures Organics is committed to using a minimum of 95 per cent RPET within its packaging and we ensure all bottles are fully recyclable to support our ‘endless bottle philosophy’,” said Elise Synnott, personal care marketing manager at Natures Organics.

“It’s an idea that encourages the use of recycled plastic within packaging, which can be recycled into new bottles over and over again.”

The latest move to turn OC Naturals bottles into completely recyclable comes after it experienced continued degradation with the clear RPET (recycled plastic) that the company used for its old transparent bottles.

Natures Organics said in a statement that the clarity irregularities in clear RPET bottling means there is a “mixed nature of post-consumer packaging, with many different colours, multi-layer packaging, PVC and opaque white PET” that contributes to the discolouration of RPET resin.

The new OC Naturals range.

“While a black or amber-tinted bottle would have solved OC Naturals clarity problem, most dark plastics contain carbon black pigment making them impossible to be detected through the sorting process and therefore will not be recycled into future bottles,” Synnott said.

“At 100 per cent recyclable and made from an impressive 97 per cent RPET, the result is a green bottle that creates the perfect visual representation of Natures Organics’ green philosophy and reflects current trends to complement modern bathroom decor.”

Natures Organics also uses solar power, reducing its factory’s carbon emissions by more than 4500 tonnes. Synnott said the company knows how important recycling is but despite the amount of plastics recycled at the moment, there is still a long way to go in decreasing Australia’s plastic waste.

“Innovation is important to further reduce our environmental impact and right now we’re looking at how OC Naturals products can support refillable pouches, similar to the system already in place for our Cove Cleaning products. These pouches would help reduce plastic waste by up to 80 per cent and can be conveniently recycled the same way shoppers currently return their plastic grocery bags,” she concluded.

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