With World Earth Day coming up on 22nd April, we wanted to share one of the biggest sustainability initiatives at Keeler. One that has been two years in the making!

When did the initiative start?

When Keeler rebranded in April 2022, we saw an opportunity to not only update our packaging, but to enhance it from a sustainability perspective. Through a structured, six-stream approach, Keeler constantly reviews key areas for reducing its carbon footprint including energy, waste management and recycling, people and business, products, transport and supply chain and packaging. Sustainability has always gone hand in hand with our marketing ethos, so it seemed the perfect time to launch this project.

What did the project entail?

Packaging continues to be a significant priority for Keeler, working with suppliers and supply chain team to minimise plastic waste sent to landfills and find viable alternatives. The objective of this project was to hit every single goal on Keeler’s sustainability list ie recyclability, resource efficiency, carbon footprint reduction, durability, and product protection, whilst retaining innovation.

The initiative was applied to 12 product lines initially (including new bulb packaging design). We redesigned the packaging by converting to bare board and reduced the print area to save ink and energy in the manufacturing process as well as the treatment of byproducts post-processing on 40,000 of our products shipped annually.

What are the benefits of this new packaging? 

Our old packaging used cartons sourced from China which resulted in long lead times. It included plastic/blister packs and foam and we worked with a 100% area gloss print using Flexo printing. By contrast, the new packaging is from Kraftpak material, using a paper mill in Sweden. We now work with bare board/paper, using Lithographic print on an 80% reduced print area – but best of all we have zero plastic!

This has resulted in:

• Savings of over £18k per year
• A huge reduction in CO²
• Reduced lead times
• The ability to print on unbleached virgin board that can be recycled – a more sustainable option when printing large quantities
• A more premium print finish with more vibrant colours

What is Kraftpak material?

Kraftpak is PEFC certified, made from 100% unbleached virgin Kraft fibre and is fully recyclable, CO² neutral and compostable which allows great printing quality. We take pride in being among the few companies in the UK utilising Lithographic printing on Kraftpak. This achievement is thanks to the innovative solution proposed by one of our enthusiastic packaging partners. While other suppliers faced challenges in reproducing our branding colors on brown paper, they were able to successfully achieve this.

What’s next?

Keeler began officially shipping products in the new, branded boxes from July 2023, so this project has expanded as old stock is continually phased out. Changes are also in the pipeline to further improve Keeler’s environmental impact – so watch this space!

Engineering Buyer, Lenka Hejnalova who was integral to this project, along with wider packaging and operations teams said, “I have thoroughly enjoyed this sourcing challenge, the key learnings and the collaboration with my colleagues Andrew Ridge, Kristine Kula, Steve Church and Kate Bugajska.

This is a tangible realisation of our ongoing sustainability efforts and we are grateful to so many of our dedicated, hard-working team members who have supported this project. Special acknowledgment is extended to our Head of Business Transformation, Jeremy Whiting, who has consistently been the driving force behind all sustainability endeavors within Keeler as well as Ann-Marie Abong’o, a talented Halma future leader, who inspired me while working on the new sustainable slit lamp project. Together, we’re making a difference for the planet, and that’s something to celebrate!”

If you’d like to discover more about Keeler’s sustainability mission, please click here