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The issue of packaging waste continues to be a concern for our industry. At Walgreens Boots Alliance, we are doing what we can to help address the negative impacts packaging waste has on the environment. We have made substantial strides around reducing single-use plastic components in our packaging and have switched to alternatives, where feasible. Our efforts to make packaging more sustainable span product design, industry collaborations, customer education, improved supplier data collection and more.
Measuring Our Progress
WBA’s owned brands continued to make progress against our targets throughout fiscal 2023. Through the implementation and execution of our tools and programs, we engaged with more suppliers and are increasingly proactive in reducing our impact through our sourcing practices.
Notable efforts and achievements include:
- Boots and No7 Beauty Company brands have expanded the number of products across categories produced from recycled content, recyclable or natural materials, including reusable makeup remover pads, cleansing pads, reusable baby wipes, lipsticks and compacts as well as eyewear brand, Botaniq.
- To support National Recycling Week (Oct. 17 – 23) in the UK, Boots ran an awareness campaign on the low recycling rates for bathroom (50 percent) versus kitchen (90 percent) products and shared take-home recycling kits and leaflets with tips along with other amplification tactics to maximize the campaign’s effectiveness and staying power.
Product Labeling
WBA supplier agreements specify that suppliers must meet regulatory requirements for labeling of ingredients on our owned brand products. Under the minimum standard requirements, new and refreshed WBA-owned brand items must be reviewed to carry a How2Recycle™ label for U.S. products or an On-Pack Recycling Label (OPRL) for UK products. We work with the Sustainable Packaging Coalition on implementing the How2Recycle label on an increasing number of our products. These labels are designed to provide customers with clear advice on how to recycle. In the UK, WBA has representation on the OPRL technical advisory committee, working on industry-wide solutions involving recycling labeling. Through our Minimum Sustainability Requirements and Labeling standards, Boots and No7 Beauty Company have mandated the use of "Do Not Flush" labeling on products which have the highest risk of being inappropriately flushed.
For more information on WBA’s sustainability initiatives please see the latest Environmental, Social & Governance Report.