SARAYA's Initiatives to Reduce Plastic

In recent years there have been increasing concerns around the world that plastic waste causes marine pollution, harming ecosystems. Since its founding in 1952, SARAYA has always kept in its core the concept of creating products with natural ingredients gentle to people and the environment, something clearly visible in the production and reuse processes we have established in our home branch in Japan. Our product development and manufacturing teams have been continuously challenged on this issue.

A bit of sustainable history

Resource-saving since our establishment

In 1952, SARAYA developed and commercialized Japan's first medicated liquid hand-washing soap "Pearl Palm Liquid Soap" and its dispenser.

As you needed to dilute "Pearl Palm Liquid Soap" with water with 1:7~1:10 ratios before use, carrying labor, cost, the number of containers and storage space needed were greatly reduced, making it a groundbreaking product at that time.

Pioneers of the Refill Pack

In 1979, we launched ‘Yashinomi’, a dishwashing detergent made of botanical ingredients that have little impact on the environment, a first in the industry. However, all of the dishwasher bottles at the time were disposable, resulting in an enormous waste of petroleum resources and other materials. Therefore, in 1982, we aimed to reduce petroleum and plastic waste by launching the first standing dishwashing detergent refill pouch. Even today, we use this refilling method in many of our products, such as kitchen detergents and hand-washing soaps.

"Yashinomi" refill pack released in 1982	"Shavonette" refill pack

Regarding "Yashinomi", our pioneer product in detergent refill packs, we developed "Yashinomi Premium Power" in 2016, consisting of a recyclable pouch in a special holder with the aim of realizing a sustainable society of the 21st century. We analyzed the behavior of "refilling" from all angles, such as the transfer of liquid solutions, hand stains occasioned from spills, liquid left in the pouch, etc. and we came up with a design that allows you to easily and hygienically refill by simply replacing the pouch. The design was a high success and won numerous praises, including the 2016 Good Design Award.

Eco Mark and returnable containers for business use

In 2015, SARAYA Co., Ltd. and Tokyo SARAYA Co., Ltd. were awarded the "Eco Mark Grand Prize 2015 Gold Award" by the Japan Environment Association for their efforts in reducing their environmental impact. This award was given in recognition of many years of SARAYA’s efforts in active and continuous acquisitions of Eco Mark certifications for business-use products such as “returnable containers,” as well as its proactive usage of eco-marks on their product packages.

Volume-reducing bottles that reflect customer feedback

Our Product Development Department is continuously working on products suitable for all business needs. We obtain product development ideas through the market, collecting information from sales representatives as well as various customer feedback.

For example, our ‘Whip Wash Hand Soap,’ a product for business use, had its container improved in response to the feedback of customers in the medical field who wanted us to reduce the volume of waste discharged at their business sites. Now you can fold and discard the container, reducing the volume ratio of waste by about 70%. We have also succeeded to make the container thinner reducing the amount of plastic used by about 50% compared to conventional bottles.

Whip Wash Peach 500mL Volume Reduced Bottle

Integrating packaging and container

We are currently working on replacing the current bottles to B.I.B (bag-in-box) system in order to reduce waste and to recycle resources.

The BIB system is a package that integrates the packaging material and the container. A cardboard box contains an inner bag (made of polyethylene) containing the solution, with a special stopper attached to it that you can use as it is. After use, you separate the inner bag from the cardboard, recycling it in the paper recycling system, while the plastic can be thermally recycled.

Future Initiatives

As a member of the “Global Citizen” program, we will keep working on the reduction of containers and packaging and the development of new environmentally-friendly products based on SARAYA's environment policies, which protect the global environment through global warming prevention and protection of biodiversity and its ecosystems.  As our long-term vision, we work to replace all our raw materials to suitable ones in a recycling-based society