A Springvale factory has been upgraded to become one of the world’s few sites fully capable of producing organic cotton period-care products.
Essity, which is Australia’s only period-care manufacturer, expects to use organic cotton in 10 per cent of its products from 2023.
Currently it produces organic cotton pads, tampons and liners for its Libra and TOM Organic brands. They are supplied on shelves in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
The firm is investigating further export opportunities.
Essity is also moving to more sustainable packaging such as bio-Polyethylene in the Libra Cotton range and eliminating plastic cello wrap on TOM tampon boxes.
Essity marketing head Laura Demarchi said consumers were turning more to organic materials.
“Consumers today see their period care as closely linked to their overall well-being, and many
are turning to organic materials.
“That’s why we’re seeing rapid growth in organic products in recent years.”
Ms Demarchi said customers were also preferring Australian-made, especially since the advent of the Covid pandemic.
Essity site operations manager Matthew Arblaster said retooling the factory for organic products was the “culmination of many years’ hard work”.
“Retooling Essity’s production assets to handle new materials was led by our skilled local
manufacturing team and supported by experts from around the world.
“This significant investment in capability shows Essity’s commitment to leading the way in period care for years to come and will support keeping jobs in Australia.”
Eighteen months ago, the multinational Essity acquired the 45-year-old Australian brand Libra.
It employs 250 workers at Springvale, and 46,000 worldwide.
