ECOVER : A 100% recyclable, renewable and reusable packaging

Since April 2011, Ecover has been using polyethylene stemming from sugar cane in order to package its bottles, which generate 95% of the packaging materials it produces. The company's goal behind this move is, in the very near future, to be using sugar cane for all its plastic containers (5-liter and 25-liter cans). This renewable resource is transformed into bioethanol, then introduced to yield ethylene and ultimately transformed into polyethylene (PE) or a "bioplastic" component. From this point forward, every Ecover-branded packaging material or product is to be manufactured solely with organic components. Ecover is the first manufacturer of ecological products to use this new and innovative material.

The company opted for sugar cane since this raw material allows extracting 4 times as much ethanol as any other plant in the production of green plastics. On one hectare of ground, 82.5 tons of sugar cane can be cultivated, yielding the potential for 7,200 liters of ethanol and, in turn, resulting in 3 tons of green PE.

Ecover consumes 1,000 tons of green PE a year, a quantity that represents a carbon emissions savings of 2,500 tons! The carbon footprint of a 500-ml bottle is thus reduced to 0.028 kg of CO2.

In the future, Ecover has every intention to use polyethylene originating from sugar cane waste; such a step will contribute to optimizing sugar cane farming techniques. This valuable resource can in fact be used for food production while its wastes channeled into ethanol production.