Family-owned fragrance to fashion company Puig reduced its overall carbon footprint by -8% in 2019. This was driven by the five key pillars of Puig’s sustainability mission: product stewardship, sustainable sourcing, responsible logistics, responsible manufacturing and employees and facilities.
Over the last few years, Puig has adopted circular economy practices to increase resource efficiency and minimise raw material wastage, as part of its product stewardship pillar.
It also launched its ‘Pacollection’ consumer packaging collection programme, reduced plastics in secondary packaging and explored alternative biodegradable and recyclable materials.
The company has also implemented responsible sourcing practices and enhanced traceability across its supply chain. It also evaluated 176 suppliers, who represent 94% of purchase volumes, as part of a new EcoVadis supplier monitoring campaign.
Puig’s suppliers achieved an average score of 55.4 points (+2.4%), which is above the EcoVadis average score of 42.4. It also transitioned to sourcing 100% of its folding cardboard from sustainably-managed forests and 100% of its alcohol from natural-origin sources.
Recognising that transport and logistics contribute 81.4% of its total carbon footprint, Puig has taken measures to optimise distribution and reduce transport emissions by -5% in 2019.
It also reduced emissions in the manufacturing and production phase by -6%. In 2019, Puig installed Biomass energy facilities in its Vacarisses and Chartres factories which reduced greenhouse gas emissions by -57% and -14% in those plants respectively. It also reduced plastics in its tertiary packaging and is looking to install a solar energy facility in its Alcalá plant.
Internally, Puig has committed to reducing the environmental impact of its offices and employees by reducing business trips, paper consumption and minimising its vehicle fleet. In 2019, Puig reduced its employees greenhouse gas emissions by -16% and those of its headquarters-based staff by -4%.
Puig’s Plastic Free initiative also encourages employees to reduce their consumption of single-use plastic at the company’s headquarters in Spain, France and across its four factories. Other internal campaigns include the installation of waste segregation bins and the implementation of the Energy Consumption Minimisation Plan.
Puig has also extended its sustainability objectives through a number of internal awareness campaigns and events. The Strategic International Meeting 2019 (SIM2019) Carbon Neutral event was attended by over 1,000 Puig stakeholders. It highlighted the ‘Sustainability and Luxury: a strategic opportunity’ exhibition which illustrated how various luxury categories were adopting sustainable practices.
Puig offset the event’s carbon emissions by donating to the Madre de Dios Amazon REDD+ Project, a sustainable forest management programme in Peru.
Puig also held the third edition of its annual internal communications campaign, Sustainable Week 2019. This year’s event was themed ‘Join the REgeneration’ which outlined how Puig was adopting circular economy business practices. The event was held between October and December 2019.
*The Puig commitment to sustainability was among the themes covered in an interview by Chief Operating Officer Javier Bach with The Moodie Davitt Report earlier this month, as the company joined many others in supporting the Virtual Travel Retail Expo. Click here for full details.
