Molly & Rose Recycled - Suppliers of eco-friendly hair products.
Our best selling essential hair accessories are set to get even better, as they will soon be made from recycled materials. Introducing Molly & Rose Recycled.
Our range of essential hair accessories is the mainstay of our business and we sell thousands of these lines each year. Whilst this is great for business, it’s not so great for our dear friend - Planet Earth. Where do these products end up? How can we help to make our products more environmentally friendly? With these questions in mind, we have been working on turning our most popular products into more sustainable versions of themselves - without compromising on the Inca quality that our customers know and love.
We wanted to make the biggest difference, and so decided to change our highest volume selling lines to help our customers (and yours) have access to affordable and more environmentally friendly hair accessories. To begin with we will be evolving almost 160,000 units into the new recycled versions, and our aim is to keep this going until as much of the range as possible is made in this way.
Will the recycled hair products be different?
It’s very important to say that in terms of look and function, the new products will be exactly the same. This was an absolute must when we were sourcing the materials. There’s no point in having a range of wholesale recycled hair products if they’re not fit for purpose as this would ultimately create more waste, which is the very thing we are trying to reduce.
The product sizes and details will all be exactly the same as the current non-recycled versions, the only thing that will change is that the products will be made from recycled materials instead of new virgin components.
Why is using recycled materials better?
If the world is going to continue to need hair accessories, we think that providing recycled hair accessories made from recycled materials is a more eco-friendly option and the best that we can currently do across our diverse product range.
In an ideal world we would be able to make all of our products suitable for home composting so that they could leave the Earth at the end of their life with no evidence of existence. This is possible with materials such as organic cotton or even better, hemp - but we're not yet able to source the variety of suitable products that we need for our customers (some organic cotton elastics are on the way, but that's another story). Customer demand for plastic components in our alice bands and hair clamps means that using recycled materials is the best we can do for now, as at least no brand new materials or new oil sources are being used for the production of our goods.
How do we know that genuine recycled materials are being used?
We are keen to guarantee that the materials we were using were authentic recycled materials and not just being sold to us as such. In order to verify this, our recycled products and business are in the process of being audited to the 2 below standards...
RCS - Recycled Claim Standard
In order for a product to be certified, each stage of production must meet the requirements - from the point of recycling to the end seller.
GRS - Global Recycled Standard
This is a more rigorous standard which in addition to the above, also specifies that no harmful chemicals have been used in the manufacturing of the product and that all sites involved in manufacturing meet strict social and environmental standards.
Both certifications should offer proof that our products are made from genuine recycled materials from verifiable sources. Once we have certification this will be great for our own peace of mind as well as yours. You can find out more about both of these standards here.
What about the packaging?
Our recycled products will be on new Molly & Rose Recycled display cards, where the paper is sourced from sustainably managed forests.
It was important for us to be able to include a full list of the product composition on each display card as it’s not often done this way by other brands which can be frustrating and even sometimes misleading. The display cards for the recycled range will look something like the image below, and of course the cards will be plastic free and fully recyclable too…
As with most things in life we have had to strike a balance and make some compromises along the way. Whilst we’re always looking for the most sustainable option, it can’t be at the expense of the product quality. For this reason our item packs in the recycled range will still come in plastic bags. These are fully recyclable at most supermarket recycling points or can be included in most business waste collections. Although plastic free packaging would be great, we need the plastic bags to prevent the stock from being damaged in transit as well as allowing easy selection from wholesale shelves, they are the most easily recyclable option available for this. As much as we didn’t want to, we have had to keep the plastic twist tie fastening on the display cards of the alice bands in order to secure the band in place. Without the twist ties, the stock can easily fall out and get lost or broken.
How can I order the new recycled hair products?
Once our current stock is sold it will be replaced by the new recycled version. We can’t say exactly how long this will take, as the length of time will just depend on how quickly the current stock sells through.
Please note that all items per card and pack sizes will be exactly the same.
At this point we are not able to take orders on the recycled products alone as they will not be available until our current stock is gone.
Will they be more expensive?
There may be some slight price increases, but they will be at an absolute minimum to cover the cost of the goods, not to add to our profits. Any changes will be pennies (and not tens of pennies).
Which products will be made from recycled materials?
Let’s take a closer look at which products exactly will become our more earth friendly hair accessories...
Recycled hair elastics.
Currently, our bestselling jersey elastics are made from non-recycled polyester. The new recycled versions will look and feel exactly the same, but now be made from recycled materials. The recycled jersey elastics will be made from 97% recycled polyamide and 3% elastane, and still have the same great all-day hold.
SKUS: 6392, 4699, 5932, 8793.
Our Snag-Free elastics are typically made from rubber cores covered with 100% polyester from non-recycled sources. Our new lines will be made from a recycled inner elastic core (20% recycled TPR, 20% synthetic rubber, 30% natural rubber, 30% calcium carbonate) and 100% recycled polyester outer. For full transparency, this composition will be listed on the packaging for everyone to see - something which can be hard to come by in this industry.
SKUS: 6404,6026,7953,h7735,4622,8646,8647,6025.
Recycled plastic hair claw clips
Currently, most of our hair clamps are made from polystyrene plastic from non-recycled sources, although the plastic itself is fully recyclable after use (recycling label #6). It will be great to offer our best selling hair clamps (and some beautiful new designs) in 100% recycled plastic. This recycled plastic is made from post-consumer waste and includes items such as plastic bottles, cups, lampshades and rulers.
The recycled plastic has the same performance and feel of our usual non-recycled plastic, but with the added benefit of re-using waste that could otherwise take up to 500 hundred years to decompose.
SKUS: 8371, 8632, HA275, HA276, 8592, 8788, 8369
Recycled plastic headbands
The below aliceband lines and tiara style will be made from 100% recycled plastic going forward. This is the same post-consumer waste plastic that will be used for the recycled hair clamps above, so you can still expect the same quality as our non-recycled headbands.
SKUS: 4267, 4268, 4269 and 7662 are our alice band cores which are often used by makers who create their own customised headbands. With these recycled plastic headband inners our customers will now be able to promote their goods as ‘made from recycled plastic’ if this is something they are keen to do.
SKU 6349 is our 2.5cm wide black plastic alice band which is a staple line for many of our customers and will be made from 100% recycled plastic.
SKU 4994 is our card of 2, 1 cm wide black satin alice bands. The inner plastic core will be made from the same 100% recycled plastic as the other alice bands and the satin covering will be 100% recycled polyester
6982 is our plastic tiara with a feather trim. Unfortunately the feather trim is not made from recycled materials, but the plastic of the tiara will be made from 100% recycled plastic.
Wholesale suppliers of recycled hair products UK
Whilst it seems like there are lots of changes afoot, please rest assured that the products themselves won't seem any different. We are simply swapping our non-recycled materials for their 100% recycled counterparts.
Offering recycled hair accessories to the wholesale market is something that we have wanted to do for years, but up until now we have not been able to source the right materials or find the right factory for the job.
It’s been a long road to get here, but our desire to create change has been our motivation, and our long term aim is to become the biggest wholesale supplier amongst all of the sustainable hair accessory brands.
Don’t forget that our minimum order is just £25 and that discounts are available for orders over £150. If you require any further information about our recycled range of hair accessories or any other products, please don’t hesitate to get in touch sales@incauk.com