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WINNING THE
war on waste What is Waste Revolution? Chris: “Waste Revolution is Australia’s leading plastic neutral certification. We partner with companies to measure and reduce their plastic footprint, and then to offset an equivalent amount of plastic by funding plastic collection or recycling activities. Our vision is a world where every company is taking full responsibility for their environmental impact. We also want to put a stop to plastic waste leaking into our environment and our oceans by stimulating a truly circular economy.” Why does Waste Revolution exist? Harry: “There’s 300 million tonnes of plastic being produced each year, and of that less than 10 percent is being recycled. For some sorts of plastics, it’s extremely low - like less than one percent for certain problem plastics; I think that that in itself is extremely problematic. You think that your waste goes in the recycling bin and that it’s recycled. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for the majority of plastic, which does end up in landfill. The other fact that really blows our minds in terms of carbon emissions is that the emissions associated with plastic industries are nearly double that of the entire aviation sector. So again, it’s not just the physical impact of plastic, there’s also a huge carbon footprint because as we know, plastic is made of oil and gas, so the extra fossil fuels that result from the sector are fairly astronomical.” I understand that you have backgrounds in law and management consulting. How have skills in these areas set you up to building Waste Revolution? Chris: “Harry’s worked as a lawyer for three years, with a specialty in climate risk governance and sustainable finance. He’s also done a bit of freelance work with a Carbon Neutral Certification. He’s now
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We met the duo behind Australian-born sustainability business Waste Revolution - a company aiding beauty brands on their journey to a more environmentallyfriendly future. Hannah Gay speaks to founders Chris Lam and Harry Smith on the project. working for The Investor Group on climate change - they assist institutional investors to transition to net zero and invest in more climate solutions. And then my background is, as you say, in management consulting with a focus on strategy and economics. I’ve had the chance to work across projects on sustainability and technology as well. I also do a bit of freelance website design, so I think our skills complement eachother really well. Our backgrounds have given us a good understanding of sustainability, finance and technology, and also law. And all of these have been really helpful in setting up Waste Revolution.” You’ve recently partnered with INIKA Organic, which is stocked in a number of salons across Australia. What were the specific steps that you took with the brand to get them to a plastic neutral status? Chris: “The first step was to measure, so we started by working with INIKA to complete a plastic footprint audit of their products. This provided them with a much more granular view of what products were driving their plastic use and what kind of materials they were using. That leads really well into step two, which is to reduce through our Plastic Action Plan. We’re working with INIKA to identify further opportunities for plastic reduction, increased use of post-consumer recycled plastic and also improved areas of circularity. I think that audit really sets companies up because they know where they’re using plastic and I think it’s an important first step.
INIKA have done some really amazing work over the last couple of years to totally rethink their packaging and reduce their reliance on virgin plastic, substituting for alternatives like sugar cane, glass and aluminium. And most importantly, where they did need to use plastic, 72 percent of it now comes from post-consumer recycled plastics, which goes a long way in improving the circularity of their business. The third step was to offset. INIKA have committed to offset 4.7 tonnes of plastic in 2022, which is a massive effort that’ll fund the production of over 800 fence posts made from 100 percent hard-to-recycle plastics. Those posts are then donated to fire or flood-affected farmers to rebuild fences and to plant trees.” How can beauty businesses get on board? Chris: “You can’t manage what you haven’t measured, so we always say the best place to start is by measuring your plastic footprint and looking at which products in which areas of your business are going to use virgin plastic or hard-torecycle flexible plastics. We’re starting to see the world’s most sustainable companies going both plastic neutral and carbon neutral. The most important thing is to just make a start.” n
To learn more on how to set your beauty business up for a more sustainable future, scan the QR code to watch our video interview in full!
