Our approach to packaging has remained largely unchanged over the years. This is not just a design choice—it is an ethos. Vessels must be functional, modest, and have minimal environmental impact. It may sound at odds with this approach, but some of our bottles are made from plastic, rather than glass. This was not a decision made lightly but is a solution to our practical packaging problems—it is also a little-known fact that plastic bottles actually have a lower carbon footprint than their glass counterparts.
Most of the plastic we use is recycled PET, which consists of at least 97% recycled material. Our recycled PET is made up of household plastic waste. These bottles have a much lower footprint than a vessel made entirely of virgin materials, and they meet our product performance needs perfectly. Aesop has already met and surpassed its target of 50% recycled material in plastic packaging by 2025.
- Using recycled plastic: shifting the majority of plastic bottles in our range from virgin Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) to Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (rPET), comprising a minimum 97 per cent recycled material sourced from post-consumer kerbside recycled content.
- Offering our product without pumps: expanding the range of 500mL products offered with a screw-cap in place of pump for customers replenishing their favoured Aesop formulations. The screw-cap option represents a 12-gram reduction in plastic per unit.
- Offering packaging take back systems in store: Rinse and Return is offered across our stores in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, China, Macau, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore. We began expanding to Europe, the US and Australia in 2024, with more stores to follow in 2025.
- FSC and PEFC Certified Paper: All of the secondary (cartons) and tertiary (transit Shippers) packaging materials used to house Aesop’s retail Products Is comprised of paper that is either FSC or PEFC certified. These globally recognised certifications ensure that we have material traceability for our paper-based Product Packaging materials.
- Aesop is a signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant, which promotes packaging sustainability.