05.31.23
Grove Collaborative Holdings, Inc., a leading sustainable consumer products company and Certified B Corp, has released its fourth annual Sustainability Report for 2022-2023.
The comprehensive report introduces new company sustainability initiatives, including an update on the company’s roadmap to be plastic free, and reaffirms its mission to transform the consumer products industry into a positive force for human and environmental health, the company says.
“We remain focused on striving for progress in a messy world while considering opportunities for greater impact,” said Stuart Landesberg, co-founder and CEO of Grove Collaborative. “We strongly encourage our industry to join us in working together to find sustainable and innovative solutions – particularly on our path away from single-use plastic.”
‘Beyond Plastic’ Impact
Originally published in 2020, Grove’s Plastic Scorecard is the first of its kind to publicly report on the company’s total plastic footprint. Since 2017, Grove customers have helped avoid or collect over 20 million pounds of plastic by purchasing plastic-reducing Grove Co. and “Peach Not Plastic” products instead of conventional brands. In 2022, Grove’s plastic footprint was approximately 3.2 million pounds, compared to 4.9 million pounds in 2021 and 5.1 million pounds in 2020 – a 37% decrease in Grove’s plastic footprint since 2020.
Refillable or Reusable
Grove Collaborative is seeking to offer more reusable or refillable products and packaging site-wide while also reducing single-use plastic. In 2022, 16% of products sold by Grove were refillable or reusable, compared to 13% in 2021 and 12% in 2020.
Impact
Grove measures impact by tracking the amount of plastic the company’s owned-brand products have avoided versus conventional brands. Since 2020, Grove Co. cleaner concentrates have helped avoid 2,175,519 pounds of plastic, while the reusable sandwich bags have helped avoid 2,839,146 pounds of plastic since May 2021 compared to conventional products.
Plastic Neutrality
Grove is the reportedly the first plastic-neutral retailer in the world. For every ounce of plastic Grove sells, the company removes the same amount of ocean and nature-bound plastic through its partnership with rePurpose Global. Since 2020, Grove has collected over 12.7 million pounds of plastic through its plastic neutral program.
Beyond Plastic Badging System
Beyond Plastic is Grove’s plan to solve the single-use plastic crisis for home and personal care products. As outlined in the report, Grove’s Beyond Plastic standard continues to evolve, reflecting the company’s ongoing commitment to offering customers the best available product solutions that push the CPG industry forward.
In an effort to increase transparency and improve the customer experience online, Grove has identified three categories that best define products free of plastic waste. In the coming months, Grove will begin rolling out a Beyond Plastic badging system – visual identifiers clearly displayed on Grove Co. and third-party products sold on grove.co.
- Products that are 100% plastic-free and do not include any PVA or plastic components, including Grove Co. Wool Dryer Balls and soy candles, and Peach Not Plastic bar soaps;
- No Single Use Plastic. Products that contain durable reusable plastic, defined by the EPA as lasting three years or more, including Grove Co. glass hand soap dispensers, dish soap dispensers and glass spray bottles;
- 95%+ Plastic Free. Products that contain no more than 5% plastic by weight. This includes products packaged in aluminum containing a minimal plastic-based coating required to uphold the integrity of the aluminum without affecting recyclability, such as Grove Co. hand soaps and dish soaps.
Separating Plastic from Profit
With the goal to decouple business growth from its plastic footprint, and to more accurately and effectively measure Grove’s progress out of plastic, the company began measuring the amount of plastic weight used per $100 revenue in 2020. Grove published in the 2022-2023 Sustainability Report, the industry’s first plastic intensity metric, which shows year over year reductions in the amount of plastic sold per $100 revenue.
Site-wide, the company yielded 1.06 pounds of plastic per $100 revenue in 2022, compared to 1.32 pounds per $100 in 2021, and 1.44 pounds per $100 in 2020 - a significant 25% decrease since Grove began tracking plastic intensity in 2020.
When looking at Grove’s owned brands, including Grove Co. home care products and Peach Not Plastic personal care products, plastic intensity is even lower, with only 0.87 pounds of plastic sold per $100 revenue in 2022 compared to 1.07 pounds per $100 in 2020 — an 18% decrease since Grove began tracking plastic intensity in 2020.