MYGroup has announced a collaboration with Shellworks, the UK materials company behind VIVOMER, a leading biobased, plastic free alternative to traditional plastic. The collaboration provides consumers of VIVOMER packaged products a new recycling route through our nationwide beauty and cosmetics take back network.
VIVOMER, a biomaterial, is made through a natural fermentation process using plant waste. The process converts the feedstock into entirely biobased natural polymers to create a shelf stable material with form and function similar to plastic, but designed to biodegrade entirely when composted.
Recognising that not every household maintains a compost heap, the collaboration gives customers of VIVOMER-packaged products a simple and nationwide alternative through MYGroup’s established take back network for used health, beauty and cosmetics products, which have seen 31 million kg of used items recovered over the last five years.
VIVOMER empties can now be dropped into existing MYGroup collection boxes in over 800 retail stores covered by schemes including Boots (Recycle at Boots), Harrods H beauty (MyBeauty) and Selfridges (Reselfridges Recycle).
Returned VIVOMER is processed at MYGroup’s facility in Hull and recovered into MYboard™, its durable, wood-replacement board material used in furniture, fit-outs and point-of-sale displays, keeping the waste material in use and out of landfill or incineration.
MYGroup has also been trialling VIVOMER in its Insectology™ black soldier fly and worm bioconversion systems at its expanding Bio-Park focused on research into bio-derived materials.
VIVOMER features in brands including Wild (Unilever), SURI, Bare la Terre, Clara’s Corner, Dulcie, Hair by Sam McKnight, SURI, OceanSaver and Wildsmith, sold through mainstream retailers including Asda, Boots, Tesco, Sephora and Whole Foods.
The collaboration is announced as British Beauty Week gets under way, with this year’s programme built around the theme of The Impact of Beauty. Both MYGroup, the first waste management company patron of the British Beauty Council, and Shellworks are in attendance at British Beauty Week’s Industry Day in Central London on Monday 12 October.
Shellworks is a forward-thinking company, rethinking packaging from the material up. Our role is making sure there’s always somewhere for VIVOMER to go after use. Not everyone has access to composting, so our take-back network gives customers of the products a simple, traceable alternative.
The Impact of Beauty is this year’s British Beauty Week theme, and bio-based materials will be a big part of that impact in the years ahead. It’s a space we’re investing in ourselves through our Bio-Park, and one that will move faster through collaboration. We look forward to doing more with Shellworks and others to build scale for this new wave of materials.
Steve Carrie, Group Director, MYGroup
It’s incredible to be able to collaborate with innovative companies like MYGroup who’ve built systems to actively address areas of waste management that are conventionally regarded as extremely difficult. As we continue to scale VIVOMER, take back schemes like this are an important part of us providing consumers and brands with multiple end of life scenarios, resulting in truly waste free experiences. For us, real change doesn’t just stop at a material, with this partnership we can address infrastructural change and with such wide coverage in the UK, VIVOMER now has better disposal outcomes than many incumbents too.
Amir Afshar, Co Founder, Shellworks
More information on MYGroup’s beauty and cosmetics take-back schemes is available at mygroupltd.com/cosmetics-recycling.
Learn more about VIVOMER at shellworks.com.
