Wax Removal

We’ve been hand-dipping our 70cl bottles in wax since our first ever distillation in 2012. They’ve become an iconic symbol of our brand, and while we know that lots of consumers LOVE the wax detail, we got some great big sustainability goals and plans for the future, so we’re making a change.

Our partnership with 1% for the Planet, a international movement that unites businesses, individuals and not-for-profit organisations together across the globe, allows us to push the boundaries, make a difference and show how our business and conservation can continue to work together in a positive way.

“It’s about valuing the natural world, recognising our position in the landscape for what we farm and forage, and that we are all a part of nature, not apart from nature,“ explains Jonny Easter, Warner’s Conservation & Sustainability Manager. “1 % for the Planet membership aligns perfectly with our journey towards B-Corp accreditation. It helps to quantity and verify charitable giving and community engagement.”

This year, our team have been working hard to eliminate single-use plastics across the business and naturally packaging finds itself pretty high on the naughty list. The replacement of our plastic air sacs from e-commerce with re-purposed cardboard waste, classed as secondary packaging was a huge sustainable win for us but now the focus has shifted to primary packaging.

Aesthetically beautiful, frequently upcycled, produced in the UK and widely recyclable, we’ve made big environmental steps with our unique glass bottles. Currently, however, the wax and tearaway strip is, by definition, a single-use plastic as Jonny Easter, Warner’s Conservation & Sustainability Manager explains. “Single-use plastics are those items made primarily from fossil fuel-based chemicals (petrochemicals) and are meant to be disposed of after use – often immediately upon opening.”

Sound bites

• Removing wax from our bottles reduces our annual CO2 emissions by 1.2 tonnes - (that’s Warner’s operational emissions and doesn’t account for external production costs.)

NB: That’s the equivalent to charging your phone 155,972 times

• We are eliminating 1.4 million single-use plastic pieces from the public domain (based on 2019 bottle sales containing wax and tearaway strip)
• We are 1% for the Planet members, committing 1 % of business revenue to deliver green action.
• As part of our journey to gain B-Corp accreditation, removal of wax is a great example of ‘source reduction’ and shows sustainable practices in action.

We are all familiar with the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

 Where possible, your first port of call should be to reduce, and this is what we’re doing by removing the wax. We look forward to building a more environmentally-sound, sustainable future with you.