SWEET! LANO INTRODUCES SUGARCANE TUBES
At LANO, we care about the land. After all, the land nurtures the sheep who produce our hero ingredient, lanolin. As a beauty company, we’ve long had to rely on traditional plastic for our tubes. But new technology has given us an environmentally friendly alternative — and a sweet way to lighten our carbon footprint.“It has taken over 36 months of testing, but we are pleased to finally be able to transition sugarcane bioplastic into our product family.”
- Kirsten Carriol, Founder & CEO of Lanolips
It’s called sugarcane bioplastic and we’re so excited about it. We know you will be, too. But first, you probably have some questions …
Why sugarcane?
It’s better for the environment — that’s why.
Sugarcane is a renewable raw material. And the more that sugarcane bioplastic is used, the less we rely on plastic derived from non-renewable fossil fuels.
What’s more, sugarcane plants capture CO2 emissions from the atmosphere as they grow. This in turn helps to fight against climate change.
Where is the sugarcane grown?
The bioplastic we’ve sourced comes from sugarcane cultivated in South-Central Brazil.
So how exactly is sugarcane turned into bioplastic packaging?
Once sugarcane is harvested, the sugarcane is transported by trucks to mills where it’s crushed. This produces sugar, of course, but also ethanol. The ethanol is then transported, this time by rail, to our packaging manufacturer who dehydrates the ethanol to produce what’s known as ethylene, before polymerising it to create sugarcane bioplastic. Science: always amazing!
Are the tubes recyclable?
Sugarcane bioplastic can be recycled just like traditional plastic, but make sure to check your local recycling guidelines.
Do you have a recycling scheme in place?
Without a physical store to which used tubes can be returned, this unfortunately isn’t possible for us. We do, however, work closely with large retail partners, and many have their own in-store packaging return systems. So please do follow up on this with your favourite LANO stockist.
What’s other sustainable initiatives is Lano doing?
This latest initiative follows on from four years of environmentally friendly packaging updates at Lanolips. What first started with switching box printing inks to plant-based alternatives has expanded to include introducing more sustainable plain tube caps as well as the removal of printing laminates, cello coating on paper boxes and all plastic from e-commerce shipping filler packaging to make recycling easier.
Moving forward, we will continue to source more sustainable packaging options, with the aim to transition all tubes to more eco-friendly materials over the next 12-24 months, as testing allows.
You can read more about sustainability initiatives on our Values page.
