Latest news with #BondiSands
North Wales Live
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- North Wales Live
Shoppers praise OK! beauty box for being 'amazing value' and 'perfect for holiday'
OK!'s latest Summer Beauty Box has been praised by shoppers as it is jam-packed with beauty and skincare products catered for the summer months. With products inside worth over £220 for just £49.99 you will be saving an impressive £170 with this months deal. Filled with popular brands such as Bondi Sands, KVD and Nuxe, the OK! Beauty Box contains 12 products that includes eight full-size make-up, skin, body and hair care products, all expertly picked by beauty professionals. With over 600,000 beauty boxes sold, they are a clear hit with shoppers, including TV presenter Lisa Snowdon. Stay informed on the latest health news by signing up to our newsletter here She said: "OK! Beauty Box has launched their Summer Beauty Box with everything you need - whether you're packing for a beach holiday or just enjoying the sunshine from home! I love the Hello Sunday SPF as it fits in my bag and smells like sunshine!" A range of products are included in the bundle giving you a great saving of over £170, with the Mudmasky glow-up cleanser retailing at £39.99 and the Bellapierre cosmetics all eyes on you eyeshadow palette originally costing £25. The Summer Beauty Box contains: Hello Sunday the take-out one invisible sun stick - worth £20 Gruum solstraler after sun face oil - worth £15 Glowcore gua sha - worth £10.80 Trinny London golden glow bronzer - worth £25 KVD beauty tattoo pencil liner - worth £13 Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse or Florale - worth £4.40 Bondi Sands tropical rum scent body moisturiser - worth £5.99 Bellapierre cosmetics all eyes on you eyeshadow palette - worth £25 Avant reconsstructing keratin complex ultra shine hair cream - worth £17 Mudmasky glow-up cleanser - worth £39.99 Balance Me super firming body oil - worth £12 Amphora Aromatics mint and dead sea salts deep cleansing face mask - worth £14.40 OK! Beauty Box chest sheet OK! magazines - worth £18.40 Beauty lovers have raved about OK!'s Summer Beauty Box giving it 4.5 stars on the website. One happy buyer said: "I love the Ok beauty boxes. I bought this one as I have a holiday planned & there are some really useful things that I can use. I love the Trinny London bronzer it's a gorgeous colour. The eye shadow palette will look lovely with a tan. I can't wait to try the other products on holiday. It's great value for money & I highly recommend!!" However one person was not happy with the price of the box saying: "I still don't think it's worth the money. Just packed with lots of hay. I got it for my daughters birthday. Wish I had waited until the 20-30% off." Although another said: "I bought one each for my sister & I, we are over the moon with all the products, not tried everything yet but are pleased with the ones we have, a lovely gift for myself & gift for my sister, have recommended to other friends & family." A third said: "This box is that good I bought another! Wonderful items in this every single one! You will not be disappointed! Well worth every single penny I absolutely love these OK beauty boxes getting quite addicted to treating myself. . . A real luxury treat that is affordable . . . brilliant." Beauty boxes are a great way to test out products for an affordable price. LOOKFANTASTIC have The July Beauty Box featuring £130 worth of product for just £15. Alternatively, Boots have their Fresh Faced Favorites Skincare Edit Set for just £23.99.
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
‘I needed to bite the bullet': Aussie man's simple idea that is now making millions
Making other people rich inspired one Aussie to risk everything and sink $700,000 into one simple idea. Jordan Mylius, 37, was working in sales for a tanning company when he decided to focus on creating his own haircare brand, Hairification. The idea came to Mr Mylius during one of Melbourne's multiple Covid-19 lockdowns. One of the only things you could do at the time was go to the supermarket and it was there that he came up with the idea. 'I remember seeing a haircare brand launch and thinking it was a good idea. The brand looked cool, it was affordable and it was clearly selling well,' he told 'It got the cogs turning in mind. 'What else could be done in this space?'' The 37-year-old has always been incredibly self-motivated. He skipped university and went to the 'University of Life' instead and bought a tanning and beauty salon in his 20s. From there he got into sales and ended up being the global sales director for Aussie tanning brand Bondi Sands. During his tenure, he watched the brand go from being stocked in a handful of Priceline stores to becoming a multimillion-dollar success. Mr Mylius has always loved his career working for other people and brands, but he has always known he wanted to do something for himself. 'I've made lots of people lots of money over the years. I needed to bite the bullet and do it for myself,' he said. 'I wanted to look back and think 'wow I achieved this' and see my products on shelves.' So, when he saw a gap in the market to launch a haircare brand that delivered salon-quality results at supermarket prices, he jumped at it. He created a shampoo and conditioner that retailed for $25 each, aiming to help combat frizz and revitalise thinning hair. From his perspective, it is the kind of product everyone wants but usually can't afford to spend over $100 on, like similar ones on the market. Once he had the idea and the vision, he felt he knew how to market the product, and he went all in. 'I just bootstrapped it,' he said. 'I used all my own savings and risked pretty much everything.' At the end of the day, launching the brand cost between $700,000 and $1 million, which involved paying for everything from marketing to the salary of a chemist to develop the formula. It sounds crazy, but the businessman explained that he figured 'you can always make more money', but you can't fix living with regret. Mr Mylius said that part of his confidence stemmed from the fact that he believed in the product from the start. 'I knew that the products worked from personally using them and from trials we did with consumers and my family and friends,' he said. 'I just thought we've got to take the risk and put it to the market. We took the risk and it paid off.' Once the range was developed, he went straight to Coles, and it turned out to be exactly what they were looking for. Before the brand launched, Mr Mylius would go and check Coles every day, 'like a loser', waiting for it to appear on the shelves. 'I actually screamed when I saw it, I was like, 'oh my God'. I've worked in products for many years but there's nothing quite like seeing your product sell that you worked really hard on,' he said. 'I created this thing it is my baby.' The brand officially launched in 2023 and, in less than three years, it has generated millions. Hairification just hit $20 million in revenue without any celebrity backing and is now stocked in Coles, Woolworths and Priceline. The brand is growing rapidly, partly due to its clever use of social media. Hairification has garnered over 3 million likes on TikTok and collaborated with influencers like Kayla Jade to establish a customer base that extends beyond supermarket shoppers. Mr Mylius is loving the success, but it isn't enough just for the brand to be generating millions; he wants more. 'I'm just so focused on where I want to take this brand and business and I'm laser focused on that,' he said.
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
I'm in the self-care aisle at Woolies, but I'm not here to buy shampoo. I'm on a covert mission
It's 8.40am on a Tuesday and I'm perusing the self-care aisle in Woolies Metro on top of Melbourne's bustling Southern Cross Station. I'm not here to buy shampoo; I'm on a covert mission. Standing beside me is Manny Manatakis, a chief sustainability officer at Circularise who works with companies such as Wesfarmers Health to help improve their packaging and further sustainability goals. Our objective is straightforward. Manatakis will pick out items in the lane and I have to identify whether it's recyclable or not. I'm quietly confident. I'm an avid keep cup user for my daily cappuccino, a frequent opp shopper and owner of quaint compost bin in the corner of my kitchen. This should be easy. First up is a bottle of Bondi Sands SPF 50+. I'd normally put this bottle straight in the recycling bin, but I check the labels throughout just in case. I spot the Mobius loop – three arrows in a triangle – on the back. It looks like a standard recycling symbol. 'Recyclable,' I say confidently. Manatakis shakes his head. Next up is a yellow Essano Happy Skin spray. This time I'm cautious. I check the back of the product more thoroughly and see a different loop with skinner arrows and a label that says, 'Please recycle'. 'Recyclable,' I say. I'm wrong again. Finally, we head to Chemist Warehouse and Manatakis picks out a bottle of MooGoo Natural Milk Shampoo. The shiny packaging is opaque with a sky-blue strip in the middle and a dairy cow in the corner. 'Our bottles are off-white because we use 100 per cent recycled plastic. Please recycle,' the label assures me. Surely, that means it's recyclable? I anxiously turn the bottle over to check if for a hidden trick. 'Please recycle' another label says on the bottom. 'So would you put that in your recycling bin,' Manatakis asks me. I nod. 'That's fair,' he says. 'I think many people would, but it's not recyclable in Australia.' Defeated and slightly embarrassed, I head outside with Manatakis so he can explain where I went wrong. All the 'non-recyclable' examples used a form of opaque polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic packaging, Manatakis tells me. PET is one of the most highly used plastics across the world and is omnipresent across supermarkets and chemists for food, beverage, shampoo and skincare packaging. In Australia, PET is recyclable – but only when it is clear and transparent. According to the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO), Opaque PET (1) is classified as non-recyclable in Australian and New Zealand kerbside recycling systems. If you place a product with opaque PET packaging in your recycling, it can contaminate a whole load of recycled PET, making it unusable for end markets. So if opaque PET isn't recyclable, why is it so commonly used in product packaging? And why doesn't the everyday Australian know how to recycle properly? Manatakis said the challenges and problems within Australia's recycling system were multipronged. 'Firstly, there is a lot of confusion at the household level on what is and isn't recyclable,' he said. 'Then there can be confusion when neighbouring councils have different rules on recycling. The final tier is companies and businesses who don't know if their packaging is recyclable and use incorrect labels. 'The multiple levels of confusion make recycling in Australia a complex problem.' Opaque PET: The plastic contaminating our recycling system The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) works with governments and businesses to manage the environmental impact of packaging. The organisation's 2022-23 consumption and recovery report estimated six million kilograms (6000 tonnes) of rigid opaque PET was in the market. APCO chief Chris Foley said opaque PET was not recyclable in Australia and described the products as a 'contaminant in the recycling stream'. So what makes opaque PET so bad for Australia's recycling system? An APCO spokesperson said the loss of clarity and transparency in opaque PET reduces its sustainability for high-value applications, such as new packaging, ultimately limiting the circularity of PET materials. In some countries opaque PET is classified as recyclable, but in Australia, opaque PET is difficult for optical sorters at material recovery facilities to detect. 'These sorting systems use infrared technology to identify and separate materials on high-speed conveyor belts,' the spokesperson said. 'If opaque PET is not effectively separated from clear plastics, it can contaminate the recycling stream, reducing the quality, value, and end-use potential of rPET [recycled PET].' Manatakis said the prevalence of white opaque PET plastic in Australia's recycling system led to frequent dumping. 'When you put opaque white-coloured PET in your recycling, the high-speed sorting machines cannot sort white from clear, so someone has to be carefully studying and removing any white bottles from that strain,' he said. 'Now, if a white bottle gets through the system and it gets shredded, a white blotch appears in the new recycled bottle. 'The moment a recycler sees a white splotch, the alarm bell goes off and they need to dump the whole load.' 'Dog's breakfast': Aussie customers confused by recycling labels In 2020, an audit commissioned by the Australian Council of Recycling found consumers were confused by different logos and incorrect or non-existent labelling on products. The audit found 88 per cent of packaging on 150 sampled products was recyclable, but only 40 per cent had a label indicating it could be recycled. Then chief executive officer Pete Shmigel referred to Australia's recycling labels as a dog's breakfast and called for mandatory uniform labels on every product and packaging type sold into the Australian market to remove confusion. Five years later, new Australian Council of Recycling chief executive officer Suzanne Toumbourou, said nothing had changed. 'I'm sad to say that the situation has not much improved,' she said. 'I'm optimistic about a broad industry commitment to improvement – the problem is that we don't have the mandatory levers to support that investment.' Toumbourou is referring to APCO's Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) – the only evidence-based labelling program in Australia. Companies that want to use the Australasian Recycling Label must use PREP – a packaging assessment tool that determines the recycability of their packaging based on shape, weight, size, inks, adhesives and materials. Sounds good, right? The only problem is: the label is not mandatory. In 2024, the Department of Climate Change and Energy hosted a packaging regulatory consultation, which found there was strong support within the industry for mandatory on-pack recyclability labelling obligations. But currently, Australian companies are not required to join APCO and can elect to use the Mobius loop – an internationally recognised but unregulated symbol, meaning any brand can use it regardless whether their packaging is recyclable. Many companies also use resin code symbols, which identifies the type of plastic resin used but is often mistaken for a recycling label. APCO's report found that of the total packaging in the market between 2022 and 2023, 86 per cent had good recycling potential but only 56 per cent was recovered. Toumbourou said the absence of a national mandatory labelling system in Australia meant businesses could 'slip through the cracks'. 'There's a lot of questionable environmental claims made relating to recyclability by those who are putting products on the market in relation to their packaging, which further distorts and confuses and lowers people's confidence in recycling,' she said. Renata Daudt is a packaging engineer at AWEN Packaging Consulting, a firm that helps businesses comply with the Australian packaging standards and global regulations. This masthead sent Daudt images of several products at Woolworths and Chemist Warehouse that used the unregulated Mobius recycling symbol or had 'please recycle' labels. She conducted a PREP assessment on each of them and confirmed Essanno and Bondi Sands used opaque PET, rendering it non-recycable in Australia. MooGoo used opaque rPET (recycled PET), which is also non-recycable in Australia. 'Big companies send their products all over the world but recycling is different in every country,' she said. 'Opaque PET is recyclable in Germany using a separated stream, but not in Australia. That's why it's so important we have a mandatory, national and regulated labelling system.' 'If you're labelling your product as recyclable when it's not, then you're misleading customers.' This masthead approached MooGoo, Bondi Sands and Essano for comment. A Bondi Sands spokesperson said the company was conducting a comprehensive review of its packaging and labelling to improve consumer eduction. 'This ongoing review has brought to our attention a discrepancy in the recyclability labelling on the packaging of our SPF 50+ Fragrance Free Sunscreen Lotion 500ml sold in Australia,' the statement said. 'Pending completion of the review, we are taking immediate steps to address this discrepancy.' A spokesperson from Vitality Brands, which acquired Essanno last year, said the company was undergoing a packaging audit process across the 250-plus stock keeping units in its portfolio. 'We are transitioning the packaging on products that do not meet the Vitality Brands standards or ethos over the next three years,' they said in a statement. 'Vitality Brands is a member of APCO and to ensure we actively address recyclability we have set clear targets to improve the sustainability of our packaging across product lines.' Melody Livingstone, chief of Australian brand MooGoo, said she acknowledged opaque rPEt was 'not always accepted or effectively processed by local in recyclers in Australia'. 'In contrast, rPET — including opaque — is more widely accepted in places like the UK and USA, where our products are also sold,' she said. 'The UK is one of our biggest markets... 'Because MooGoo products are sold internationally, our labelling reflects the recyclability of the material in a global context, not solely based on any one country's infrastructure. 'However, we recognise that this can lead to confusion in regions like Australia where recycling access is inconsistent, and we are actively reviewing our labelling to provide clearer guidance for Aussie consumers.' So why doesn't Australia process opaque PET when other countries say they can? Toumbourou said the answer is complicated, but noted many countries in Europe have mandatory extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes. These environmental policies ensure manufacturers are responsible for the end-of-life management of their products, including collection, recycling and disposal. 'Places like Europe have EPRs that help to fund the process of recycling and therefore make it more feasible to do so,' she said. 'So Australia's inability to recycle opaque PET isn't just about technology, it's about investment.' 'Compared to Europe, we are behind.' What are the consequences for labelling a non-recyclable products as 'recyclable'? The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is responsible for enforcing legislative requirements and holding businesses accountable for breaching its guidelines. The consumer watchdog collaborates with APCO to ensure a 'unified approach' and to provide 'clarity and transparency' for brand owners regarding packaging labelling requirements. In response to questions from this masthead, an APCO spokesperson said while many organisations were committed to making responsible choices, some may 'inadvertently mislead consumers by making inaccurate recyclability claims'. 'If a company labels packaging made from opaque PET as recyclable, it risks misleading consumers about the product's environmental impact,' the statement said. 'While APCO does not determine whether a claim breaches ACCC guidelines, we play a critical role in helping businesses understand the recyclability of their packaging and avoid making misleading claims,' the statement said. In response to the questions around opaque PET's prevalence on the market, an ACCC spokesperson said businesses must have a legitimate basis for making recyclablity claims. Loading 'When making claims about recyclability, businesses should not only consider whether the product is technically recyclable, they should also consider whether there are sufficient facilities available to recycle the product, including how accessible those facilities are to ordinary consumers,' the statement said. In April this year, Clorox Australia – the manufacturer of GLAD Wrap waste disposal and food storage bags – was hit with an $8.25 million federal penalty for incorrectly making claims a product was partly made from recycled 'ocean plastic'. Toumbourou was glad to see regulators cracking down on greenwashing – which involves making false or unfounded claims about sustainability and climate action. However, she'd like to see greater scrutiny on claims relating to recyclability. 'If you're misleading the public about recyclability, what you're ultimately doing is undermining their confidence in a real recycling outcome, and they're also undermining the investment that the recycling sector has made in delivering those outcomes,' she said. Manatakis agreed and wanted to see the watchdog impose stricter penalties on brands incorrectly advertising their product's packaging as recyclable. 'The average Australian customer want to do the right thing,' Manatakis said. 'They want to be sustainable and recycle properly, but in order to do so, companies, watchdogs and governments need to fix the flaws within the system.'
The Age
5 days ago
- General
- The Age
I'm in the self-care aisle at Woolies, but I'm not here to buy shampoo. I'm on a covert mission
It's 8.40am on a Tuesday and I'm perusing the self-care aisle in Woolies Metro on top of Melbourne's bustling Southern Cross Station. I'm not here to buy shampoo; I'm on a covert mission. Standing beside me is Manny Manatakis, a chief sustainability officer at Circularise who works with companies such as Wesfarmers Health to help improve their packaging and further sustainability goals. Our objective is straightforward. Manatakis will pick out items in the lane and I have to identify whether it's recyclable or not. I'm quietly confident. I'm an avid keep cup user for my daily cappuccino, a frequent opp shopper and owner of quaint compost bin in the corner of my kitchen. This should be easy. First up is a bottle of Bondi Sands SPF 50+. I'd normally put this bottle straight in the recycling bin, but I check the labels throughout just in case. I spot the Mobius loop – three arrows in a triangle – on the back. It looks like a standard recycling symbol. 'Recyclable,' I say confidently. Manatakis shakes his head. Next up is a yellow Essano Happy Skin spray. This time I'm cautious. I check the back of the product more thoroughly and see a different loop with skinner arrows and a label that says, 'Please recycle'. 'Recyclable,' I say. I'm wrong again. Finally, we head to Chemist Warehouse and Manatakis picks out a bottle of MooGoo Natural Milk Shampoo. The shiny packaging is opaque with a sky-blue strip in the middle and a dairy cow in the corner. 'Our bottles are off-white because we use 100 per cent recycled plastic. Please recycle,' the label assures me. Surely, that means it's recyclable? I anxiously turn the bottle over to check if for a hidden trick. 'Please recycle' another label says on the bottom. 'So would you put that in your recycling bin,' Manatakis asks me. I nod. 'That's fair,' he says. 'I think many people would, but it's not recyclable in Australia.' Defeated and slightly embarrassed, I head outside with Manatakis so he can explain where I went wrong. All the 'non-recyclable' examples used a form of opaque polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic packaging, Manatakis tells me. PET is one of the most highly used plastics across the world and is omnipresent across supermarkets and chemists for food, beverage, shampoo and skincare packaging. In Australia, PET is recyclable – but only when it is clear and transparent. According to the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO), Opaque PET (1) is classified as non-recyclable in Australian and New Zealand kerbside recycling systems. If you place a product with opaque PET packaging in your recycling, it can contaminate a whole load of recycled PET, making it unusable for end markets. So if opaque PET isn't recyclable, why is it so commonly used in product packaging? And why doesn't the everyday Australian know how to recycle properly? Manatakis said the challenges and problems within Australia's recycling system were multipronged. 'Firstly, there is a lot of confusion at the household level on what is and isn't recyclable,' he said. 'Then there can be confusion when neighbouring councils have different rules on recycling. The final tier is companies and businesses who don't know if their packaging is recyclable and use incorrect labels. 'The multiple levels of confusion make recycling in Australia a complex problem.' Opaque PET: The plastic contaminating our recycling system The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) works with governments and businesses to manage the environmental impact of packaging. The organisation's 2022-23 consumption and recovery report estimated six million kilograms (6000 tonnes) of rigid opaque PET was in the market. APCO chief Chris Foley said opaque PET was not recyclable in Australia and described the products as a 'contaminant in the recycling stream'. So what makes opaque PET so bad for Australia's recycling system? An APCO spokesperson said the loss of clarity and transparency in opaque PET reduces its sustainability for high-value applications, such as new packaging, ultimately limiting the circularity of PET materials. In some countries opaque PET is classified as recyclable, but in Australia, opaque PET is difficult for optical sorters at material recovery facilities to detect. 'These sorting systems use infrared technology to identify and separate materials on high-speed conveyor belts,' the spokesperson said. 'If opaque PET is not effectively separated from clear plastics, it can contaminate the recycling stream, reducing the quality, value, and end-use potential of rPET [recycled PET].' Manatakis said the prevalence of white opaque PET plastic in Australia's recycling system led to frequent dumping. 'When you put opaque white-coloured PET in your recycling, the high-speed sorting machines cannot sort white from clear, so someone has to be carefully studying and removing any white bottles from that strain,' he said. 'Now, if a white bottle gets through the system and it gets shredded, a white blotch appears in the new recycled bottle. 'The moment a recycler sees a white splotch, the alarm bell goes off and they need to dump the whole load.' 'Dog's breakfast': Aussie customers confused by recycling labels In 2020, an audit commissioned by the Australian Council of Recycling found consumers were confused by different logos and incorrect or non-existent labelling on products. The audit found 88 per cent of packaging on 150 sampled products was recyclable, but only 40 per cent had a label indicating it could be recycled. Then chief executive officer Pete Shmigel referred to Australia's recycling labels as a dog's breakfast and called for mandatory uniform labels on every product and packaging type sold into the Australian market to remove confusion. Five years later, new Australian Council of Recycling chief executive officer Suzanne Toumbourou, said nothing had changed. 'I'm sad to say that the situation has not much improved,' she said. 'I'm optimistic about a broad industry commitment to improvement – the problem is that we don't have the mandatory levers to support that investment.' Toumbourou is referring to APCO's Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) – the only evidence-based labelling program in Australia. Companies that want to use the Australasian Recycling Label must use PREP – a packaging assessment tool that determines the recycability of their packaging based on shape, weight, size, inks, adhesives and materials. Sounds good, right? The only problem is: the label is not mandatory. In 2024, the Department of Climate Change and Energy hosted a packaging regulatory consultation, which found there was strong support within the industry for mandatory on-pack recyclability labelling obligations. But currently, Australian companies are not required to join APCO and can elect to use the Mobius loop – an internationally recognised but unregulated symbol, meaning any brand can use it regardless whether their packaging is recyclable. Many companies also use resin code symbols, which identifies the type of plastic resin used but is often mistaken for a recycling label. APCO's report found that of the total packaging in the market between 2022 and 2023, 86 per cent had good recycling potential but only 56 per cent was recovered. Toumbourou said the absence of a national mandatory labelling system in Australia meant businesses could 'slip through the cracks'. 'There's a lot of questionable environmental claims made relating to recyclability by those who are putting products on the market in relation to their packaging, which further distorts and confuses and lowers people's confidence in recycling,' she said. Renata Daudt is a packaging engineer at AWEN Packaging Consulting, a firm that helps businesses comply with the Australian packaging standards and global regulations. This masthead sent Daudt images of several products at Woolworths and Chemist Warehouse that used the unregulated Mobius recycling symbol or had 'please recycle' labels. She conducted a PREP assessment on each of them and confirmed Essanno and Bondi Sands used opaque PET, rendering it non-recycable in Australia. MooGoo used opaque rPET (recycled PET), which is also non-recycable in Australia. 'Big companies send their products all over the world but recycling is different in every country,' she said. 'Opaque PET is recyclable in Germany using a separated stream, but not in Australia. That's why it's so important we have a mandatory, national and regulated labelling system.' 'If you're labelling your product as recyclable when it's not, then you're misleading customers.' This masthead approached MooGoo, Bondi Sands and Essano for comment. A Bondi Sands spokesperson said the company was conducting a comprehensive review of its packaging and labelling to improve consumer eduction. 'This ongoing review has brought to our attention a discrepancy in the recyclability labelling on the packaging of our SPF 50+ Fragrance Free Sunscreen Lotion 500ml sold in Australia,' the statement said. 'Pending completion of the review, we are taking immediate steps to address this discrepancy.' A spokesperson from Vitality Brands, which acquired Essanno last year, said the company was undergoing a packaging audit process across the 250-plus stock keeping units in its portfolio. 'We are transitioning the packaging on products that do not meet the Vitality Brands standards or ethos over the next three years,' they said in a statement. 'Vitality Brands is a member of APCO and to ensure we actively address recyclability we have set clear targets to improve the sustainability of our packaging across product lines.' Melody Livingstone, chief of Australian brand MooGoo, said she acknowledged opaque rPEt was 'not always accepted or effectively processed by local in recyclers in Australia'. 'In contrast, rPET — including opaque — is more widely accepted in places like the UK and USA, where our products are also sold,' she said. 'The UK is one of our biggest markets... 'Because MooGoo products are sold internationally, our labelling reflects the recyclability of the material in a global context, not solely based on any one country's infrastructure. 'However, we recognise that this can lead to confusion in regions like Australia where recycling access is inconsistent, and we are actively reviewing our labelling to provide clearer guidance for Aussie consumers.' So why doesn't Australia process opaque PET when other countries say they can? Toumbourou said the answer is complicated, but noted many countries in Europe have mandatory extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes. These environmental policies ensure manufacturers are responsible for the end-of-life management of their products, including collection, recycling and disposal. 'Places like Europe have EPRs that help to fund the process of recycling and therefore make it more feasible to do so,' she said. 'So Australia's inability to recycle opaque PET isn't just about technology, it's about investment.' 'Compared to Europe, we are behind.' What are the consequences for labelling a non-recyclable products as 'recyclable'? The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is responsible for enforcing legislative requirements and holding businesses accountable for breaching its guidelines. The consumer watchdog collaborates with APCO to ensure a 'unified approach' and to provide 'clarity and transparency' for brand owners regarding packaging labelling requirements. In response to questions from this masthead, an APCO spokesperson said while many organisations were committed to making responsible choices, some may 'inadvertently mislead consumers by making inaccurate recyclability claims'. 'If a company labels packaging made from opaque PET as recyclable, it risks misleading consumers about the product's environmental impact,' the statement said. 'While APCO does not determine whether a claim breaches ACCC guidelines, we play a critical role in helping businesses understand the recyclability of their packaging and avoid making misleading claims,' the statement said. In response to the questions around opaque PET's prevalence on the market, an ACCC spokesperson said businesses must have a legitimate basis for making recyclablity claims. Loading 'When making claims about recyclability, businesses should not only consider whether the product is technically recyclable, they should also consider whether there are sufficient facilities available to recycle the product, including how accessible those facilities are to ordinary consumers,' the statement said. In April this year, Clorox Australia – the manufacturer of GLAD Wrap waste disposal and food storage bags – was hit with an $8.25 million federal penalty for incorrectly making claims a product was partly made from recycled 'ocean plastic'. Toumbourou was glad to see regulators cracking down on greenwashing – which involves making false or unfounded claims about sustainability and climate action. However, she'd like to see greater scrutiny on claims relating to recyclability. 'If you're misleading the public about recyclability, what you're ultimately doing is undermining their confidence in a real recycling outcome, and they're also undermining the investment that the recycling sector has made in delivering those outcomes,' she said. Manatakis agreed and wanted to see the watchdog impose stricter penalties on brands incorrectly advertising their product's packaging as recyclable. 'The average Australian customer want to do the right thing,' Manatakis said. 'They want to be sustainable and recycle properly, but in order to do so, companies, watchdogs and governments need to fix the flaws within the system.'
CTV News
05-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- CTV News
The Absolute Best Self-Tanners You Can Get In Canada Right Now
Keep glowing with the best self-tanners from St. Tropez, Bondi Sands, Saltyface, and more. Everyone loves having a bronzey glow, but nobody loves exposing their skin to harmful UV rays. That's where self-tanners come in. These hero products help you achieve a radiant, rich tan without causing any damage. Many of them work their magic in under an hour, too. To help you find your perfect match, we've searched high and low, digging into reviews and investigating the latest releases to hunt down the best self-tanners on the Canadian market. From budget-friendly to bougie, we've covered all the bases, so you're bound to find something worth hitting 'Add to Cart' on. Here are the absolute best self-tanners you can get in Canada right now: The Absolute Best Tinted Lip Balms You Can Get In Canada Right Now The Absolute Best Face Sunscreens For Sensitive Skin You Can Get In Canada Right Now I Tried This At-Home Laser Hair Removal Device, And Here Are My Thoughts Disclaimer: The prices displayed are accurate at the time of publication. We'll do our best to keep them as up-to-date as possible, but you may see slight changes.
