Blackmores has a long-term commitment to sustainability and social responsibility. As responsible corporate citizens, we believe we must address the issues of environmentally sustainable practices relating to all aspects of our business, demonstrating care, respect and compassion for our people, the broader community and the environment.
Blackmores is continually exploring ways to reduce the environmental impact of our product packaging, increase recycling rates and develop innovative sustainable packaging solutions.
We are a founding signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant, a sustainable packaging initiative which is changing the culture of business. This agreement between government, industry and community groups aims to find and fund solutions to address packaging sustainability issues.
Read more about Blackmores Australian Packaging Covenant Annual ReportsBlackmores has used glass as its preferred container since the early 1960s based on its superior contents protection, recyclability and premium presentation on shelf. The majority of our products are packaged in glass or, for larger bottles, a lighter, more durable recyclable polypropylene pack.
In 2014 we introduced a ‘closed loop’ process for bulk deliveries into our packaging facility. This process has removed inbound cardboard and plastic waste, reduced handling times and waste removal costs, and increased operational efficiencies.
Our Quality team has full visibility over the composition of materials to ensure our packaging is free of toxic chemicals (e.g. plasticisers, mercury and BPA) that can leach out of other packaging materials. The anti-tamper closure ring on the lid of our recyclable amber polypropylene packs is designed to prevent it from separating from the bottle, which is a common threat to wildlife.
We were one of the first businesses in Australia to adopt the Planet Ark Australian Recycling Label, as well as one of the first to implement paperless order picking.
Blackmores believes that our insistence on using high quality ingredients should never come at the expense of the environment. We partner with several stewards in sustainability including the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Antarctic Wildlife Research Fund (AWR), to ensure unrivalled transparency and quality control over our supply chain from catch to capsule.
Blackmores manages all environment and sustainability initiatives whilst maintaining compliance with the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s high standards of good manufacturing practice. Our achievements have been recognised with numerous industry accolades, including the Australian Packaging Covenant Award two years running (2014 and 2015) and a WorldStar Packaging Award.
The Blackmores Campus, our company’s headquarters, has a range of sustainable features including a gas-fired tri-generation plant, which services our energy needs and runs parallel to the grid. A native beehive on site helps promote biodiversity in the local environment.Staff also participate in the APC’s annual Business Clean Up Day on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
Blackmores supports additional community groups and fundraising and awareness activities throughout the year with financial contributions, Blackmores product charity hampers and staff-driven fundraising initiatives such as breakfast BBQs.
We also support the following Australian athletes who continue to inspire us all:
What better way to help make a difference?! This iconic event the event now boasts over 32,000 participants from over 66 countries each year. The event is also a hugely successful fundraising activity supporting a number of local and national based charities. The total funds raised since inception is over $15,500,000.
Our employees are encouraged to participate in a charitable scheme whereby 0.5% of their taxable pay is deducted each payday and placed in an interest-bearing trust account. Blackmores matches this amount and twice yearly each participating employee nominates a registered charity to receive the donation.