In collaboration with
Lluch Essence

Strategic alliances in favour of sustainability: Lluch Essence case study

Lluch Essence is committed to sustainability, as shown by its agreements with Keenat and Circoolar

Paula Catacora
Sustainability Technician at Lluch Essence
16 of May of 2023
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Lluch Essence
Lluch Essence

The current linear consumption of raw materials represents an unsustainable model for both the environment and society. It involves the use of a very large number of resources and generates a large amount of waste. According to the World Bank, without urgent action, waste generation is expected to grow by 70% by 2050.

In this context, the circular economy represents a great opportunity. It is based on the concept of taking care of our present to guarantee the future, reducing waste generation by conserving products and materials for as long as possible in the economy and using them efficiently.

In addition, the circular economy has a clear positive impact for the private sector, boosting competitiveness, reaffirming the commitment to sustainability and contributing to creating innovative and more efficient ways of producing and consuming products, also resulting in the generation of new jobs.

As an involved economic agent of change, Lluch Essence has participated in the search for disruptive and eco-innovative business solutions that help to minimise the environmental impact of its actions and waste.

Lluch Essence is a company with a tradition of more than 70 years supplying aromas and fragrances of the highest quality and safety to the perfumery, cosmetics and human and animal food industries. Its main activity is focused on the distribution and management of natural and synthetic aroma chemicals and essential oils. It has a highly qualified team and a state-of-the-art laboratory. The products are subjected to strict quality controls: physicochemical and organoleptic, with olfactory strips (moillettes) being one of the most commonly used tools to ensure quality compliance.

Scent strips are usually single-use items, discarded in the rubbish bin without the opportunity to undergo proper recycling treatment. However, the collaboration of Lluch Essence with the company GreenTouch has managed to give these olfactory strips a second chance, being recycled and recovered, to become notebooks and school stationery.

In this way, through a patented method and good practices in the management of this waste, Lluch Essence can close the final circle and guarantee the circular economy of the olfactory strips or moillettes.

One of the lessons that Lluch Essence has learned from working with the concept of circular economy and reviewing its internal processes is that it is very likely that, somewhere in the world, someone has already devised a way to recover your waste regardless of its composition or nature. What is considered waste to some may be an invaluable raw material to others, and given the coming resource crisis, creativity and circularity is the only thing that can help. 

Another example of circularity can be found in cigarette butts: who would have thought that a cigarette butt could be used to make signs? Who could be sure that this awareness would prevent the generation of more waste by managing it properly and preventing it from reaching the sewers and possibly the seas and oceans?

Lluch Essence, committed to sustainability and aware of its role as an agent of change, contacted the company Keenat, initiating a collaboration at the beginning of 2023, with the aim of reducing the environmental impact currently caused by the cigarette butts generated by the organisation's smokers. An environmental and social solution was developed for the recovery of the waste through material and energy recovery.

Thanks to Keenat's research and patented method, it is possible to extract the plastic contained in the cigarette butt filter and create a new recyclable plastic object. This new plastic material can be used for awareness campaigns or signage.

NIB Artículosentradas a retocar 2023 05 16T103913.672

On the other hand, when waste cannot be avoided or recycled, in most cases and from both an environmental and economic point of view, it is preferable to recover its energy content instead of depositing it in landfills, which is what happens with paper and tobacco cigarette butts, which are sent for incineration in cement plants.

The third example of Lluch Essence's circularity and strategic alliances is the work uniform of the laboratory team. The laboratory clothes have recently been replaced by a more sustainable alternative thanks to the collaboration with CIRCOOLAR.

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Team of laboratory for Project Circoolar

Earlier this year Lluch Essence replaced all existing laboratory clothing with a more environmentally and socially sustainable alternative through the company CIRCOOLAR, which made its new uniform from recycled PET and 100% organic cotton.

However, replacing these uniforms again generated more waste: What happens to all the uniforms that are thrown away?

To close the circle and continue contributing to the circular economy, Lluch Essence, in collaboration with the social sewing workshop of Fundació Roure, will make office articles from this fabric, efficiently managing this waste and extending its stay as long as possible in the economy.

These examples are intended to illustrate that it is essential to have strategic allies, disruptive initiatives or eco-innovative projects to help reduce the environmental impact of the organisation, help the local economy and raise awareness of the current environmental crisis.

The role of companies in the transition towards a circular economy model is fundamental, there is no single solution to integrate a circular vision within organisations, each sector has different waste and challenges to face. In this context, companies must be aware that they cannot do it alone, and that it is necessary to build a collaborative ecosystem and trusting relationships that allow them to find the right circular solutions in each context.

Lluch Essence

 

About the author
Paula Catacora

Paula Catacora

Sustainability Technician at Lluch Essence

With university studies in biotechnology and a master's degree in Environmental Engineering from the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, she was a volunteer for Amics de la Gent Gran and her career in sustainability began in 2021 as a junior sustainability consultant. She currently works as a Sustainability Technician at Lluch Essence where she guides the company towards a more sustainable future, through the implementation of projects and initiatives in the three areas of sustainability impact, while coordinating the organisation's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) team.
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