Bath & Body Works advanced a variety of changes in 2023 to freshen up its packaging, according to its newly released ESG report. This included introducing its first-ever hand soap refills in cartons, upping PCR content in its plastic packaging, switching bleached paper and poly to kraft paper shopping bags and enlisting a third-party recyclability assessment for key products.
In FY 2023, “we began to quantify and better understand our current packaging baseline and then used our sustainable sourcing risk assessment tool to begin identifying what packaging materials will be our areas of focus,” Bath & Body Works states in its report. It notes the challenges of balancing packaging’s environmental impact with product protection qualities: “When you factor in the different components within a single product’s packaging — from the bottle and lid, to pump dip tube and label — it is clear there is no simple solution.”
By 2025, the retailer strives to make half of its packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable and to increase the amount of PCR used to one-third of its total plastic packaging portfolio. By 2030, it aims for all packaging to be recyclable, reusable or compostable, and to reduce scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50%. The company did not divulge in the report where it currently stands on meeting these goals.
In July 2023, the company reformulated both its hand soaps and dispenser bottles, making them with at least 50% recycled plastic. It introduced a new line of concentrated laundry care products that are packaged in bottles made from at least 85% recycled plastic. Hair care product bottles are made with at least 95% recycled plastic.
In a move to further slash plastic use, the retailer introduced foaming soap refills in quart-sized cartons. It says the cartons are recyclable and provide up to 3.6 dispenser refills. “We plan to roll out more refillable options for more product categories,” the company said in the report.
The company also replaced plastic trays with a paperboard carton for Wallflower plug-in scent bulb refills that are ordered online. The company also replaced third-party plastic gift cards with Forest Stewardship Council-certified paper gift cards that it says are recyclable and made with at least 30% PCR.
Plus, two store associates identified a plastic reduction concept that the company is adopting with two suppliers: removing the poly bag surrounding the trays for tubes, such as for hand creams. The initiative is expected to cut back on about 48,000 pounds of plastic annually.
The company also introduced kraft paper shopping bags that it says are recyclable and made from 40% recycled paper.
Bath & Body Works enlisted assistance from sustainability and recycling consulting firm RRS last year to conduct an end-to-end recyclability assessment for five key products: three-wick candles, shower gels, body and hand creams, spray mist bottles and continuous room sprays. The analysis produced findings that the company incorporated into its “ESG roadmaps” to guide progress on packaging and plastics commitments, including considerations for future product development.
Bath & Body Works also aims to submit greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals to the Science Based Targets initiative by 2025. In March 2023, the company submitted a letter to SBTi declaring its commitment to set this target.
While the company’s 2022 report focused on data from the calendar year, Bath & Body Works transitioned to fiscal year data for its 2023 report. The data covers Jan. 29, 2023 through Feb. 3, 2024 and spans operations in the U.S. and Canada, which accounted for 95% of net sales in FY 2023.
