Bulldog develops sugarcane packaging that captures carbon dioxide

Its new packaging replaces traditional plastic tube options for versions made from plastic grown from sugarcane in Brazil, the company says.

It notes that the shift to sugarcane plastics make it the first brand in the world to use sugarcane as a raw material in packaging, and explains that on top of being a renewable source, plastic from sugarcane saves carbon dioxide rather than releasing it (as traditional plastic packaging does).

For every 100 tonnes of sugarcane plastic used in Bulldog tubes, 309 tonnes of CO2 are taken out of the environment, the British-based male grooming player explains.

“Bulldog see that there’s a better way to package products. Instead, of using traditional plastic, Bulldog are ​making the same tubes with plastic derived from sugarcane- a natural material​,” the company says.

“It’s a renewable resource that is grown responsibly in Brazil with minimum impact on food supplies or biodiversity and doesn’t need much more than natural rainfall to grow."​

Sustainable packaging in focus​

Bulldog’s move comes at a time when the wider industry is united in efforts to improve the sustainability of its fast moving consumer goods packaging.

Unilever, for example, parent company to Lynx/Axe, Dove and more, has said that by 2025, it will ensure that it is technically possible for its plastic packaging to be reused or recycled.

It has also committed to making sure there are established, proven examples of it being commercially viable for plastics re-processors to recycle the material.

These industry efforts come come on the back of concern for the environment. A recent report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF), for example, noted that just 14% of the world’s plastic packaging ends up in recycling plants, while 40% goes to landfill sites and a third in fragile ecosystems.

Bulldog’s sugarcane​

Sugarcane in Brazil is grown thousands of kilometers from the Amazon rainforest, says Bulldog, on degraded pasture land which in turn helps to recover the soil for future use as general farmland or to simply plant another crop of sugarcane.

Bulldog asserts it remains a vegan-friendly skincare brand and certified Cruelty Free International. The brand does not use artificial colours, synthetic fragrances or ingredients from animal sources.