Environmental sustainability and improving our environmental footprint is at the heart of everything we do. We use plant-based ingredients that are grey water and septic tank safe. These ingredients are also biodegradable, breaking down into mineral and plant material which is better for the environment. Our packaging is recyclable, and the bottles in our Household Cleaning and Personal Care ranges are made from at least 75% recycled plastic. All part of our commitment to making 100% of our packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.
Earthwise has pioneered eco-friendly cleaning in New Zealand for over 50 years and continues to look for ways to reduce our impact on the environment.
- SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING
- OUR FACTORY
- ECO CHOICE AOTEAROA
- OUR PACKAGING PLEDGE PROGRESS
We know New Zealanders care about the environment and want to do the right thing. Read below to ensure you understand how to recycle our packaging, particularly when an item has multiple pieces.
Our bottles are made from at least 75% recycled plastic, sourced from drink bottles. All our bottles are recyclable and can be placed in your kerbside recycling.
Our caps are made from HDPE or polypropylene and will be made from recycled plastic in the very near future. They are all recyclable and can be placed in kerbside recycling.
Some of our bottles have a trigger or pump. Triggers and pumps are generally made from a different plastic to the bottles they are fitted to and often contain a spring. Unfortunately, they cannot be recycled, and should be removed from the bottle and put into your rubbish bin.
Dishwasher tablets are individually wrapped in a biodegradable film that dissolves in your machine.
Our boxes are 100% recyclable and can be placed in your kerbside recycling.
Our shipper cartons are recyclable and made from recycled materials.
Earthwise has moved the largest range of Grocery household cleaning products, to locally manufactured bottles using a minimum of 75% recycled plastic. Since October 2018, we have reused and diverted approximately 650 tonnes of plastic from landfill.
Click here to read our press releases.
Behind the scenes in our state of the art Auckland based factory, we also follow environmental practices that take into consideration the full life cycle of a product, including manufacturing.
We have a firm process in place to manage the level of wastage and our waste streams, meaning all cardboard is recycled separately to plastic, to efficiently reduce our contribution to landfill. We also take care to ensure items such as the large bottles we receive our ingredients in, are recyclable.
We also work to continually reduce energy and water consumption as much as possible.
Initiated and endorsed by the New Zealand Government, Environmental Choice recognises genuine moves made by manufacturers to reduce the environmental impact of their products and provides a credible and independent guide for consumers who want to purchase products that are better for the environment.
- A member of the Global Ecolabelling Network (Tier 1 Ecolabel)
- Recognises manufacturers reducing environmental impact of products
- Rigorous multi-criteria assessment
- Independently assessed against stringent, world class criteria across a product life cycle.
- On-going compliance audits
- Criteria written locally to address local environmental issues
- Criteria updated regularly to encourage continuous improvement
We are proud to partner with Environmental Choice to ensure our products meet their stringent independent criteria. These certifications are your guarantee that our products are made with respect and care for our environment.
Earthwise has the largest range of household cleaning products that are environmentally certified:
- Hand dishwashing detergents
- Laundry detergents (liquid & powder)
- Dishwasher detergents
For further reading, please click here to visit the Environmental Choice website.
The MSDS (material data safety sheet) for all our products are available by emailing us admin@earthwise.co.nz.
Ellen MacArthur New Plastics Economy Report 2021 Update
With sustainability at the heart of everything we do, we are always looking for ways to improve our products to make them the most eco-friendly product for our consumers that we can.
As part of supporting The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in collaboration with the UN Environment, Earthwise has pledged to:
- Earthwise recognises New Zealand has an interest in moving towards a more circular economy and reducing the use of virgin plastic packaging.
- Earthwise will work towards using 100% reusable, recyclable, or compostable plastic packaging by 2025 or earlier.
- We will introduce at least 75% recycled plastic into our bottles across all our brands by 2025 and will go further wherever technically viable.
Since October 2018, as a business we have reused and diverted 650 tonnes of plastic from landfills since moving to using recycled plastic in our bottles. “We know we can’t tackle the plastics issues alone and are thrilled to be part of a global effort to find a solution.” Jamie Peters, Managing Director, Earthwise Group Ltd.
To date (2018-2020):
- We’ve reduced the amount of plastic used in our amber rPET bottles by an average of 27% (approx. 37 tonnes per year).
- With significant investment in new factory equipment, we have removed the plastic bag from our laundry powder boxes. Over 12 months this equates to almost 1 million plastic bags being diverted from landfill.
- Designed a fully recyclable cardboard scoop as an integral part of our Earthwise laundry box design, to meet consumer needs whilst avoiding using any additional plastic packaging.
2021 update:
- Our Kiwi ingenuity has been recognised globally at the 2021 World Star Packaging Awards where we won in the Household category. This award celebrated moving our locally manufactured bottles to at least 75% recycled plastic sourced from milk, water, and juice bottles!
- Moved our Oxygenated Whitener from 100% recyclable plastic tub to a fully recyclable cardboard carton (removing 6.8 tonnes of plastic from landfills each year).
- Reformulating our Earthwise Dish Tablets to enable us to remove the resealable plastic bag in the unit boxes, whilst retaining the integrity and stability of product (this initiative will remove approx. 130,000 bags/plastic 800kg from use each year).
- Reformulating our Earthwise Dishwasher Powder to enable us to move from a 100% recycled rHDPE bottle to a fully recyclable cardboard carton (this initiative will remove approx. 26.6 tonnes of plastic from use each year).
To date (2018-2020):
- Moved the largest range of New Zealand Grocery household cleaning products to locally manufactured bottles made from 75% recycled plastic sourced from milk, water and juice bottles.
- Increased the recycled content in our Earthwise white HDPE bottles from 75% rHDPE to 100% recycled rHDPE (equating to approx. 350 tonnes since October 2018).
- Moved amber PET bottles from 100% virgin PET plastic to 100% recycled plastic (rPET) (approx. 300 tonnes since October 2018).