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Measuring PLUS’s Carbon and Waste Footprint

About PLUS

PLUS is a personal care brand that has leveraged Bluebird’s platform to understand their carbon and waste impact since before the launch of their first product, a just-add-water body wash sheet.

The body wash sheets, which come in the PLUS Body Wash Travel Pack, generate up to 80 percent fewer carbon emissions in shipping to consumers’ homes compared to bottled body washes. They also use 38 percent less water in manufacturing. Since the formula for bottled body wash is typically made of 90 percent water, if 1 in 3 households in the US switched to PLUS from a typical body wash, the brand would prevent 175 million gallons of water from being unnecessarily shipped each year.

Now, these sheets can be bought in a roll with a reusable dispenser, called the PLUS Body Wash Refillable Dispenser and Refill Pack. PLUS worked with our platform again to develop this product, and below is an analysis of how the travel pack and the refillable dispenser and refill pack were designed for sustainability.  To determine the carbon and waste footprints of both products, we compared the travel pack to standard hotel body wash and the refill packs to traditional bottled body wash.

What we measured

How a product can change any or all of these factors depends quite a bit on what the product is, especially in terms of the infrastructure currently available for its development. We discovered that there were five major areas of potential for PLUS:

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Materials and product design

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Transportation of materials

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Transportation of the product

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Recyclability

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Degradability

While the above five areas were the most impactful, PLUS considered all potential areas of impact, including shipping to the consumer, when designing both the travel pack and refillable dispenser and refill packs.

Designing the PLUS Body Wash Travel Pack for a Low Carbon & Waste Footprint

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Materials and product design

The PLUS Body Wash Travel Pack contains 10 dehydrated body wash sheets packaged into individual sachets made of wood pulp and PVA, a dissolvable material. The body wash weighs less than one gram per sheet (.85g), so even though the carbon intensity of PVA is relatively high, the small amount of material means it doesn’t have a high impact. The sachets themselves are packaged into a 100 percent recycled paperboard box made of FSC certified paper. Each product is then packaged in a corrugated cardboard box for shipment to customers.

Results

The materials and packaging design have a carbon footprint of 48 gCO2e, accounting for seven percent of the product’s carbon footprint.

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Transportation of packaging and materials

The sachets each body wash sheet is placed into come from India, while the body wash sheets are manufactured in Korea. That means the packaging doesn’t have to travel far between the vendor and where the body wash sheets are produced. Plus, the folding cartons the sachets are boxed into are sourced near where the body wash sheets are produced as well.

Results

The transportation of packaging and materials has a carbon footprint of 32 gCO2e, accounting for five percent of the product’s carbon footprint.

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Transportation of the product

Given the lightweight nature of the product design as described above, the travel pack already emits less carbon than a heavier product would. PLUS further minimizes the travel pack’s carbon emissions by shipping the product to the US via sea rather than air. Traveling from Korea to the US, the product would emit 32 times more emissions if it were shipped via air rather than sea.

The transportation of the product has a carbon footprint of 124 gCO2e, accounting for 19 percent of the product’s carbon footprint. Shipping to customers is also factored into our calculations, and is the most significant impact for the product’s measured footprint, adding 420 gCO2e to our total.

Results

The transportation and distribution of the product has a carbon footprint of 124 gCO2e, accounting for 83 percent of the product’s carbon footprint.

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Degradability and Recyclability

The sachets that the body wash sheets come in can dissolve in the shower. Choosing this type of material minimizes waste from the outset. However, the carton that the sachets come in can be recycled (curbside in the US) or composted. That means the carton has a low likelihood of ending up in a landfill, which is how Bluebird measures overall waste impact.

In order to fairly calculate waste for recyclable components, we apply the US EPA’s average recycling rate for each material class to the total weight of the component. This gives us a better idea of what portion of packaging materials will actually be recycled, and what portion is likely to be sent to landfill. 

The previous version of the PLUS Body Wash Trial Pack used a compostable plastic bag, but since US recycling rates are higher than US composting rates, PLUS decided to update their secondary packaging to a recyclable folding carton instead, which ultimately reduces their total waste impact further.

Overall Carbon & Waste Footprint for the PLUS Body Wash Travel Pack

Overall, the carbon footprint for the PLUS Body Wash Travel Pack is 652 gCO2e and the waste footprint is 5.6 grams of waste per unit. Below, you can see the breakdown of the product’s carbon footprint.

PLUS Body Wash Travel Pack

% of the Total Carbon Impact

Materials and Packaging Design

48 gCO2e

7%

Component Manufacturing

32 gCO2e

5%

Transportation of Packaging and Materials

32 gCO2e

5%

Transportation of the Product

124 gCO2e

19%

Shipping to Consumer

420 gCO2e

64%

Determining How PLUS’s Body Wash Travel Pack Measures Up Against a Hotel Body Wash*

So, how does PLUS’s body wash travel pack compare to typical hotel body wash? Since each pack is filled with ten sachets of body wash (each containing one sheet, and one sheet would be used per shower), we compared one bottle of hotel body wash to one use of PLUS body wash and divided the footprint of the carton over each use. The carbon, waste, and plastic impact are measured on a per shower basis.

Carbon impact

Waste impact

Plastic waste

One 1 oz bottle

80 gCO2e

12 g

6 g

One use of PLUS Body Wash

65 gCO2e

2 g

0 g

Sustainability Impact

↓ 18% less carbon

↓ 82% less waste

↓ 100% less plastic

All told, PLUS’s travel pack sachets produce less waste than a typical bottle of hotel body wash after only one use.

* Benchmarking Data for Hotel Body Wash
Bluebird’s benchmark database of industry averages was used to calculate the footprint of typical hotel body wash. (Typically, hotel body wash is packaged in a PET bottle with a polypropylene screw top cap and a label.) Our database also defined the manufacturing, transportation type, and other supply chain details on industry averages. It was assumed that hotel body wash would be shipped via trucking in bulk to the hotel distributor and made available in the hotel vs. being shipped directly to the consumer. 

Designing the PLUS Body Wash Refillable Dispenser and Refill Pack for a Low Carbon & Waste Footprint

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Materials and product design

Unlike the travel pack, the PLUS refill packs come in rolls wrapped around 100 percent recycled paperboard, similar to a toilet paper roll. This further minimizes impact since there’s no need for the sachets to package the body wash sheets.

The rolls can then be put into the PLUS Body Wash Refillable Dispenser, which is made of 50 percent post-consumer recycled plastic. Although PLUS could have chosen a higher amount, say 70 or 100 percent, the material would become brittle and the dispenser wouldn’t be able to work properly. PLUS landed at 50 percent in order to balance functionality with sustainability. In general, choosing post-consumer recycled plastic significantly reduces emissions compared to virgin, or non-recycled materials.

Results

The materials and packaging design for the PLUS Body Wash Refillable Dispenser and Refill Pack has a carbon footprint of 324 gCO2e, accounting for 19 percent of the product’s carbon footprint.

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Transportation of packaging and materials

Like the body wash sheets and sachets discussed in the travel pack section above, the refillable dispenser is manufactured in China. That means it doesn’t have to travel very far to get to the factory in Korea where the body wash sheets are produced.

The folding cartons that the refill packs are rolled around are also sourced from within the same city as the factory where the refill rolls are produced. The final products are then packaged and shipped to the US.

Results

The transportation of packaging and materials for the PLUS Body Wash Refillable Dispenser and Refill Pack has a carbon footprint of 49 gCO2e, accounting for three percent of the product’s carbon footprint.

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Transportation of the product

Like the travel pack, the dispenser and refill packs are transported to the US from Korea via sea, saving emissions by 32 times if they were to travel by air instead.

The transportation of the product has a carbon footprint of 625 gCO2e, accounting for 36 percent of the product’s measured carbon footprint. Shipping to customers is also factored into our calculations, adding 490 gCO2e to our total. This accounts for 28 percent of the product’s carbon footprint.

Results

The transportation and distribution of the PLUS Body Wash Refillable Dispenser and Refill Pack has a carbon footprint of 1,125 gCO2e, accounting for 64 percent of the product’s carbon footprint.

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Degradability and Recyclability

The biggest impact to the waste footprint for the dispenser and refill packs is the fact that this is a refillable product. As with any refillable product, the longer you use it, the less impact it will have over time (on both carbon and waste). PLUS says the dispenser can be refilled up to 60 times in its lifetime before it would need to be replaced.

Overall Carbon & Waste Footprint for PLUS’s Body Wash Refillable Dispenser and Refill Pack

Overall, the carbon footprint for the PLUS Body Wash Refillable Dispenser and Refill Pack is 1,745 gCO2e and the waste footprint is 154 grams of waste per unit. Below, you can see the breakdown of the product’s carbon footprint.

PLUS Body Wash Refillable Dispenser and Refill Pack

% of the Total Carbon Impact

Materials and Packaging Design

324 gCO2e

19%

Component Manufacturing

257 gCO2e

15%

Transportation of Packaging and Materials

49 gCO2e

3%

Transportation of the Product

627 gCO2e

36%

Shipping to Consumer

490 gCO2e

28%

And below is a breakdown of the carbon impact for the individual units that make up the PLUS Starter Pack: The PLUS Dispenser and the PLUS Refill Pack.

PLUS Refill Pack

PLUS Dispenser

Materials and Packaging Design

44 gCO2e

273 gCO2e

Component Manufacturing

30 gCO2e

223 gCO2e

Transportation of Packaging and Materials

0 gCO2e

49 gCO2e

Transportation of the Product

151 gCO2e

476 gCO2e

Shipping to Consumer

108 gCO2e

382 gCO2e

Determining How PLUS’s Body Wash Refillable Dispenser and Refill Pack Measure Up Against a Typical Body Wash*

PLUS has designed its dispenser and refill packs with sustainability in mind, but how do the numbers play out compared to traditional body wash? Below, you can see the carbon, waste, and plastic impact of the dispenser and one refill pack compared to a 16.6 oz bottle of body wash. The impact is measured on a per use or per shower basis.

After two months of use

Carbon impact

Waste impact

Plastic waste

A typical 16.6oz bottle of body wash

6,212 gCO2e

238 g

162 g

PLUS Body Wash Refillable Dispenser and One Refill Pack

3,036 gCO2e

210 g

122 g

Sustainability Impact

↓ 51% less carbon

↓ 12% less waste

↓ 25% less plastic waste

After one year of use

Carbon impact

Waste impact

Plastic waste

A typical 16.6oz bottle of body wash

37,273 gCO2e

1,430 g

975 g

PLUS Body Wash Refillable Dispenser and One Refill Pack

9,486 gCO2e

492 g

122 g

Sustainability Impact

↓ 75% less carbon

↓ 66% less waste

↓ 88% less plastic waste

In short, it only takes two months of usage of the PLUS Body Wash Refillable Dispenser and Refill Pack to produce fewer carbon and waste emissions than typical bottled body wash. And the longer someone uses PLUS’s dispenser instead of  a traditional body wash, the greater the reduction of the product’s carbon and waste footprint.

* Benchmarking Data for Typical Body Wash
Bluebird’s benchmark database of industry averages was used to calculate the footprint of a typical body wash. (Typically, body wash is packaged in an HDPE bottle with flip-top cap and label.) Our database also defined the manufacturing, transportation type, and other supply chain details on industry averages.

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