With its commitment to meeting
the highest standards in relation to
sustainability and regeneration, Comfort
Zone is reducing its plastic footprint
through the use of innovative packaging
design and an important partnership
to stop ocean bound plastic
Comfort Zone has introduced recycled glass and a refillable solution in the new Sublime Skin anti-aging range / photo: Comfort Zone/Davines Group
Italian B Corp, The Davines Group, is renowned for its commitment to the sustainable creation and production of its result-driven Comfort Zone skincare line.
Since 2014, the company has been aware of the damaging impact plastic packaging is having on the planet and has been working hard to develop innovative solutions that remove the need to use plastic, while engaging with global initiatives that help to counter its impact on the environment.
A circular approach Although the spa and beauty sector has always been reliant on plastic packaging and it has traditionally played an important role in keeping products fresh and ensuring a safe user experience, the Davines Group has been accelerating its efforts to challenge its reliance on the material.
Through a programme of rigorous product research and development, the focus has moved away from the use of virgin plastic made from fossil fuels, towards the use of innovative packaging materials made from recycled or renewable plastic. Comfort Zone has also reduced the weight of its glass packaging and introduced fully refillable solutions, while ensuring all its packaging is recyclable.
Following exhaustive scrutiny of the way it approaches the use of fossil fuel-based materials, the company has now updated its production processes so 59 per cent of all packaging used is recycled or bio-based plastic.
Significantly, Davines Group has reduced its reliance on plastic by a massive 631 tons since 2014, thanks to ongoing research and development into innovative, eco-friendly alternative package solutions.
Commenting, Davines Group chair, Davide Bollati, says: “We’re conscious that packaging has an environmental impact and no material can be considered perfect, but properly managing our products’ end-of-life stage is very important. It’s crucial we eco-design the packaging right from the beginning of that lifecycle.
“We aim for simplification, by reducing the volume of the packaging components as much as possible, eliminating unnecessary plastic elements and introducing refillable solutions, just as we’ve done for our new Comfort Zone Sublime Skin Intensive Serum,” he explains.
Plastic footprint In 2020, the company calculated its plastic footprint using 3Ri standards (www.spabusiness.com/3ri), which revealed the business generated a total of 721.9 tons of plastic that year. This included waste produced by manufacturing and offices (27 per cent), plus the packaging of products sold worldwide (73 per cent).
These findings led to an investigation by the Group into whether its plastic waste was being correctly managed globally.
The outcome has been the development of initiatives to significantly reduce the company’s environmental impact in areas of the world where there’s a lack of institutions and technology to enable the full and proper recyclable process.
This has led to the partnership with Plastic Bank that will expand in 2022 to ensure an even stronger positive impact on planet and people. l
"It’s crucial we eco-design packaging right from
the beginning of its lifecycle, while properly
managing our products’ end-of-life stage" – Davide Bollati, chair, Davines Group
Tackling waste
Supporting sustainability initiatives enables the Comfort Zone to amplify its work to reduce its environmental impact
Tracking plastic on the app / photo: Plastic Bank
In autumn 2021, the Group started a plastic collection project with social enterprise, Plastic Bank (www.plasticbank.com), to prevent 100 tonnes of material being dispersed into the environment and ending up in the world’s oceans.
This initiative involves the management of ethical recycling ecosystems which are run by local people in the coastal communities of Indonesia, the Philippines and Brazil.
They gather ocean-bound plastic waste from land and beaches to stop it reaching our oceans and receive bonuses for doing so, which contribute towards the cost of food, fuel, school and health insurance, to help improve their quality of life.
Commenting on the partnership, Bollati says: “There’s no social sustainability without environmental sustainability, and no progress without respect for ecosystems and human rights. Without human ecology, there is simply no future.”
Without human ecology, there is simply no future
David Katz started Plastic Bank in 2013 – Comfort Zone is supporting the initiative / photo: David Katz, Plastic Bank
photo: Plastic Bank
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Sponsored: Comfort Zone - Rethinking packaging
With its commitment to meeting the highest standards in relation to sustainability and regeneration, Comfort Zone is reducing its plastic footprint through the use of innovative packaging design and an important partnership to stop ocean-bound plastic
Project preview: Cultivating health
Montara Hospitality Group is developing Tri Vananda, a multi- generational, residential wellness community on the island of Phuket
Sponsored: Art of Cryo – Cold gold
Introducing cryotherapy can be lucrative for spas, as well as offering customers a cutting-edge therapy with powerful benefits for both body and mind
Interview: Brothers in spa
Saverio Quadrio Curzio of QC Terme on working with brother Andrea
on the global expansion of their luxury brand, which is built around European bathing traditions
Everyone’s talking about: Property investment
Reductions in travel and the growth
of homeworking have changed where people spend their time. Our experts consider how this will impact investment
Research: Crossing the watershed
The Global Wellness Institute dives deep into data on the US$4.4tr global wellness economy. Kath Hudson reports
Q&A: Michael Roizen & Victor Koo
The Global Wellness Summit in Boston brought the industry together for three idea-packed days. Spa Business caught up with this year's influential co-chairs
Mystery Shopper: Out of the blue
Jane Kitchen visits Iceland, the
land of fire and ice, to compare
and contrast experiences at the
famed Blue Lagoon and the newly-opened Sky Lagoon in Reykjavik
Sponsored: Optimal results
Gharieni is using research findings and insight to ensure its innovative wellness concepts exceed customers’ expectations
First person: True North
Andrew Gibson heads to Larvik in Norway to experience the world of wellness that is Farris Bad
Urban spas: La Samaritaine
Ghislain Waeyaert visits the Dior Spa at La Samaritaine in Paris, after its €500m upgrade
Spa software: Staff retention
How the latest software can help retain staff and increase business potential in a COVID-challenged world
Finishing touch: COVID attacks fat cells
Researchers from Stanford University set out to explain why people with obesity are at higher risk when contracting COVID-19, as Tom Walker reports
The MSpa Oslo series is a perennial bestseller in global markets. With innovative
engineering and premium performance, this completely portable spa line-up is expertly
designed to meet the needs of customers worldwide. [more...]
With its commitment to meeting
the highest standards in relation to
sustainability and regeneration, Comfort
Zone is reducing its plastic footprint
through the use of innovative packaging
design and an important partnership
to stop ocean bound plastic
Comfort Zone has introduced recycled glass and a refillable solution in the new Sublime Skin anti-aging range / photo: Comfort Zone/Davines Group
Italian B Corp, The Davines Group, is renowned for its commitment to the sustainable creation and production of its result-driven Comfort Zone skincare line.
Since 2014, the company has been aware of the damaging impact plastic packaging is having on the planet and has been working hard to develop innovative solutions that remove the need to use plastic, while engaging with global initiatives that help to counter its impact on the environment.
A circular approach Although the spa and beauty sector has always been reliant on plastic packaging and it has traditionally played an important role in keeping products fresh and ensuring a safe user experience, the Davines Group has been accelerating its efforts to challenge its reliance on the material.
Through a programme of rigorous product research and development, the focus has moved away from the use of virgin plastic made from fossil fuels, towards the use of innovative packaging materials made from recycled or renewable plastic. Comfort Zone has also reduced the weight of its glass packaging and introduced fully refillable solutions, while ensuring all its packaging is recyclable.
Following exhaustive scrutiny of the way it approaches the use of fossil fuel-based materials, the company has now updated its production processes so 59 per cent of all packaging used is recycled or bio-based plastic.
Significantly, Davines Group has reduced its reliance on plastic by a massive 631 tons since 2014, thanks to ongoing research and development into innovative, eco-friendly alternative package solutions.
Commenting, Davines Group chair, Davide Bollati, says: “We’re conscious that packaging has an environmental impact and no material can be considered perfect, but properly managing our products’ end-of-life stage is very important. It’s crucial we eco-design the packaging right from the beginning of that lifecycle.
“We aim for simplification, by reducing the volume of the packaging components as much as possible, eliminating unnecessary plastic elements and introducing refillable solutions, just as we’ve done for our new Comfort Zone Sublime Skin Intensive Serum,” he explains.
Plastic footprint In 2020, the company calculated its plastic footprint using 3Ri standards (www.spabusiness.com/3ri), which revealed the business generated a total of 721.9 tons of plastic that year. This included waste produced by manufacturing and offices (27 per cent), plus the packaging of products sold worldwide (73 per cent).
These findings led to an investigation by the Group into whether its plastic waste was being correctly managed globally.
The outcome has been the development of initiatives to significantly reduce the company’s environmental impact in areas of the world where there’s a lack of institutions and technology to enable the full and proper recyclable process.
This has led to the partnership with Plastic Bank that will expand in 2022 to ensure an even stronger positive impact on planet and people. l
"It’s crucial we eco-design packaging right from
the beginning of its lifecycle, while properly
managing our products’ end-of-life stage" – Davide Bollati, chair, Davines Group
Tackling waste
Supporting sustainability initiatives enables the Comfort Zone to amplify its work to reduce its environmental impact
Tracking plastic on the app / photo: Plastic Bank
In autumn 2021, the Group started a plastic collection project with social enterprise, Plastic Bank (www.plasticbank.com), to prevent 100 tonnes of material being dispersed into the environment and ending up in the world’s oceans.
This initiative involves the management of ethical recycling ecosystems which are run by local people in the coastal communities of Indonesia, the Philippines and Brazil.
They gather ocean-bound plastic waste from land and beaches to stop it reaching our oceans and receive bonuses for doing so, which contribute towards the cost of food, fuel, school and health insurance, to help improve their quality of life.
Commenting on the partnership, Bollati says: “There’s no social sustainability without environmental sustainability, and no progress without respect for ecosystems and human rights. Without human ecology, there is simply no future.”
Without human ecology, there is simply no future
David Katz started Plastic Bank in 2013 – Comfort Zone is supporting the initiative / photo: David Katz, Plastic Bank
photo: Plastic Bank
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Sponsored: Comfort Zone - Rethinking packaging
With its commitment to meeting the highest standards in relation to sustainability and regeneration, Comfort Zone is reducing its plastic footprint through the use of innovative packaging design and an important partnership to stop ocean-bound plastic
Project preview: Cultivating health
Montara Hospitality Group is developing Tri Vananda, a multi- generational, residential wellness community on the island of Phuket
Sponsored: Art of Cryo – Cold gold
Introducing cryotherapy can be lucrative for spas, as well as offering customers a cutting-edge therapy with powerful benefits for both body and mind
Interview: Brothers in spa
Saverio Quadrio Curzio of QC Terme on working with brother Andrea
on the global expansion of their luxury brand, which is built around European bathing traditions
Everyone’s talking about: Property investment
Reductions in travel and the growth
of homeworking have changed where people spend their time. Our experts consider how this will impact investment
Research: Crossing the watershed
The Global Wellness Institute dives deep into data on the US$4.4tr global wellness economy. Kath Hudson reports
Q&A: Michael Roizen & Victor Koo
The Global Wellness Summit in Boston brought the industry together for three idea-packed days. Spa Business caught up with this year's influential co-chairs
Mystery Shopper: Out of the blue
Jane Kitchen visits Iceland, the
land of fire and ice, to compare
and contrast experiences at the
famed Blue Lagoon and the newly-opened Sky Lagoon in Reykjavik
Sponsored: Optimal results
Gharieni is using research findings and insight to ensure its innovative wellness concepts exceed customers’ expectations
First person: True North
Andrew Gibson heads to Larvik in Norway to experience the world of wellness that is Farris Bad
Urban spas: La Samaritaine
Ghislain Waeyaert visits the Dior Spa at La Samaritaine in Paris, after its €500m upgrade
Spa software: Staff retention
How the latest software can help retain staff and increase business potential in a COVID-challenged world
Finishing touch: COVID attacks fat cells
Researchers from Stanford University set out to explain why people with obesity are at higher risk when contracting COVID-19, as Tom Walker reports
Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spa, the spa business with more than 650 locations across
the US and Canada, has appointed franchise expert Carrie Walsh as CEO as the company plans
to expand.
Synergy – The Retreat Show, the global trade show for retreats, has launched a global research
initiative that will provide insights into the retreat sector from both consumer and industry
perspectives.
The Wellness Tourism Association (WTA) has published a non-regulatory global industry
framework designed to ensure the retreat market offers responsible experiences.
A new survey of UK and international spa practitioners shows that stress, burnout and
wellbeing concerns have caused one in three respondents to consider leaving the industry.
The UK's four Chief Medical Officers have published a refreshed edition of Physical activity
guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers' report, updating the evidence that underpins the nation's
physical activity recommendations and placing greater emphasis on strength, balance, reducing
sedentary behaviour and, for the first time, supporting people taking weight loss medications.
Anna Bjurstam has left her role as Wellness Pioneer at Six Senses Hotels and Resorts and
launched a new wellness, longevity and “consciousness consultancy” called Wahayla.
Fairmont Cheshire, The Mere, has opened today (10 July) in the Northwest of England
with a
1,715sq m Fairmont Spa that has been designed using a ‘Wellness without Walls’
concept.
Wellness hotels generating less than US$1 million (€932,700, £785,200) – or 10 per cent of
total revenue from wellness and leisure – recorded the strongest RevPAR and TRevPAR growth
in 2025 across categories when compared with 2024, according to the latest Wellness Real
Estate Report by RLA Global, produced in partnership with P and L benchmarking firm HotStats.
The MSpa Oslo series is a perennial bestseller in global markets. With innovative
engineering and premium performance, this completely portable spa line-up is expertly
designed to meet the needs of customers worldwide. [more...]
