Wednesday 21 April 2021

Advil aims to reduce plastics in 80m bottles by 20%

GSK Consumer Healthcare has announced the commitment made by its brand Advil to reduce plastics in more than 80 million bottles by 20%.

It is expected to result in a reduction of nearly 500,000 pounds of plastic in the environment, with the aim of reducing the plastic in nearly all bottles available in stores and online by 2022.

The company said it will use a “first-of-its-kind” sustainable plastic technology for over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, with the new barrier resin technology expected to reduce the amount of resin required to mould and craft the bottles while maintaining the same barrier protection properties.

GSK adds this allows for a 20% reduction in material usage for high-density polyethylene bottles “that will never enter the environmental waste stream, without a reduction to critical performance characteristics of the bottle”.

The latest commitment supports GSK's ambition for all consumer product packaging to be recyclable or reusable, including eliminating all problematic and unnecessary plastics when permitted, while ensuring the quality, safety and efficacy of its products, by 2025.

Sarah McDonald, VP of Sustainability said: “As a world leader in pain relief, we at GSK are proud to transition Advil to a more environmentally-friendly packaging, further supporting GSK's commitment to sustainability.

“With the new technology available to us, we saw this as an opportunity to invest in the future of our brands and sustainability goals. Advil's switch to 20% less plastic is a first in the OTC category and kicks off a series of plastic reduction initiatives across the product portfolio at GSK.”

Last year, GSK announced ambitious new environmental goals, with the aim to have a net zero impact on climate and net positive impact on nature by 2030.