At Glanbia our purpose is to deliver better nutrition and we recognise the importance of creating a more sustainable future.
Reducing waste from consumer packaging sits at the heart of our “Better Nutrition, Better World” sustainability strategy. We're taking part in an industry-wide transition to a more circular economy and have set ambitious targets to make all our consumer packaging 100% recyclable, reusable, or compostable by 2030. Our Performance Nutrition team is driving efforts to achieve this target by collaborating with industry partners on innovative, sustainable packaging options.
Last year our team partnered with How2Recycle®, a leading organisation based in the US and Canada dedicated to simplifying the recycling process. How2Recycle® promotes a standardised labelling system that enables brands to clearly communicate proper disposal methods; ultimately enhancing the validity, completeness, and providing transparency of recyclability claims. How2Recycle® standards for recyclability include factors such as consumer access to collections, materials used, sortation capabilities, reprocessing and overall environmental impact.
Last year we also received ‘Widely Recyclable’ on-pack label designation for Optimum Nutrition powder products and drinks. Working with How2Recycle®, we began our focus on our flagship Optimum Nutrition product, 100% Gold Standard Whey. Although the current black plastic tub was always recyclable, we've further enhanced the recyclability of ouriconic packaging through colourant and label changes. These changes improve the circularity of plastics used in the packaging by enabling material recovery facilities to efficiently capture, sort and process our tubs, contributing to the ‘Widely Recycled’ designation.
The Optimum Nutrition/How2Recycle® partnership is one of many packaging initiatives that support our journey towards our 2030 goal. We are pleased to say at the end of 2023, 76% of our global consumer packaging was deemed recyclable. We are also taking opportunities to reduce the amount of virgin plastic we use and are incorporating more recycled plastic in our packaging where practicable.