Rituals Cosmetics has committed to the ambitious goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by joining the UNFCCC’s Race to Zero campaign. Following the release of its annual Sustainability Report and its B Corp Certification this year, the wellbeing house has set new goals that are aligned with the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).
The SBTi is the global standard to drive climate action for businesses. It aims to limit global warming to 1.5 °C, in line with the Paris Agreement. Rituals’ new goals are in the process of being submitted to the SBTi for validation.
In line with its ‘Clean, Conscious & Caring’ strategy, Rituals is reducing greenhouse gas emissions across its own operations and value chain and supporting reforestation initiatives outside of its business.
Rituals has significantly reduced its carbon footprint through various sustainable projects over recent years. 20% of all sales now come from refillable products, saving 4.5 million kg of CO2 emissions.
Rituals has saved over 397,598kg of virgin plastics by using recycled plastics throughout most of its PET packaging. It has also reduced the weight of its shower foam products by -10% and shifted to green electricity and energy-saving appliances across all owned stores. In addition, Rituals transitioned 80% of formulas to 90% natural origin ingredients within two years.
Rituals is supporting decarbonisation products outside of its business by acquiring carbon-offset projects to balance its scope 1 & 2 emissions. The wellbeing house has committed to planting a tree for very refill sold with the aim of planting five million trees by the end of this year. It has also partnered with local organisations to plant, protect and restore mangrove forests in India and Kenya.
In the future, Rituals will transition all formulations to low carbon ingredients, expand its refillable offer and further the transition to recyclable and recycled packaging materials. Rituals is looking to collaborate with suppliers and beauty industry stakeholders to achieve its goals. To do this, it has joined the EcoBeautyStore Consortium to develop an industry-wide scoring system for the environmental impact of cosmetics products.
“Sustainability remains top of mind for travelling consumers who are increasingly looking to align with brands that contribute to the wellbeing of our planet,” commented Rituals Global Travel Retail Director Melvin Broekaart. “To ensure transparency and accountability, our annual sustainability report details our goals and efforts in this hugely important area. One of these key goals is to join the Net-Zero pathway, the next step in our ongoing journey towards sustainable wellbeing.”
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