Turn, Turn, Turn
How to reduce your carbon footprint?
One manufacturer finds the answer blowin’ in the wind.
Many manufacturers in our industry have made a commitment to greening their operations, but only one has landed on an Environmental Protection Agency Top
20 list for their efforts
Zotos International, Inc., the parent company of Joico,
was recently ranked 18th on the EPA’s Green Power Partnership
Top 20 On-site Generation list after the company installed two
wind turbines to provide power to its plant
in Geneva, NY. The wind plant is part of
a larger commitment the company has
made to completely neutralize its carbon
footprint by 2013.
“Environmental stewardship and
corporate responsibility are not new
for us,” says Chief Sustainability Officer
Anthony Perdigao. He points out that
the company received ISO 14000
Certification—an international measure for
sustainable business practices—nearly 15 years ago. “Investing
in an alternative energy source is a small price to pay when
compared to the major benefits the investment creates for our
community and environment,” he explains.
The wind turbine project took two and a half years from
concept to completion. Turbines will initially generate 6. 5
million kilowatt-hours, which will meet more than 60 percent
of the plant’s energy needs. According to the U.S. EPA, Zotos
International’s green power use is equivalent to offsetting the
emissions of nearly 900 passenger vehicles per year. The goal,
says Perdigao, is to utilize 100 percent renewable power by the
year 2012.
It’s ambitious, but Perdigao is confident, saying Zotos is
already taking actions that will lead to total energy independence,
including the launch of new packaging and a program to offset
100 percent of the Scope 1 and Scope 2 CO2 emissions from its
manufacturing facility.
This spring, Zotos will debut new eco-friendly packaging,
with Joico being the first of its brands to sport the new look.
Created from hybrid bioplastic resin, the new bottles will
be a composite of post-consumer recycled plastic and a
thermoplastic starch derived from plants. This material is 100
percent free of virgin petroleum-based plastic. In addition, the
new bottles can continue to be recycled, unlike other bioplastics
which contaminate recycling streams. Zotos is one of the
first manufacturers in the beauty industry to use this material,
An ThOny PeRdIgAO
American Salon April 2011
editor: Karen Ford
FROM TOP: Joico
packaging contains
75 percent post-consumer recycled
materials, and new
bottles will increase
the green quotient;
wind turbines at
Zotos’ plant will
eventually generate
100 percent of its
power.
PHOTOGrAPHY: veer.com (COVEr ANd WINd TUrbINES)
according to supplier Teknor Apex.
Zotos is also working with Verus Carbon Neutral to further
reduce the company’s carbon footprint through their support of
three projects, which range in scope from protecting U.S. forest
land to converting organic waste to cooking gas in India.
With a comprehensive sustainability program in place, Zotos
aims to leave nothing behind except beautiful hair, a healthier
planet and a fine example.
