Transforming the linear economy requires changing how businesses design, manufacture, use, and dispose of products.Ìý
We seek to reduce our material footprint across our value chain and to understand and minimise the environmental impact of virgin raw material use.
In the ‘make’ phase, we aim to use more sustainable materials and increase resource efficiency.
In the ‘use’ phase, we encourage responsible consumption and disposal.
In the ‘dispose’ phase, we collaborate with waste management organisations to enhance material recovery.
Find out more: Read more in our Sustainability Performance Data Book 2024
As we continue to strive towards reducing our use of virgin raw materials, we haveÌýtaken steps to deepen our understanding of the full extent of our material footprint.
We aim to embed circularity into the early stages of product and packaging design.ÌýIn 2024, we introduced and began testing an initial set of ecodesign principles,Ìýwhich will provide insights to support the reduction of our environmental impactsÌýacross the product life cycle – spanning the 'make,' 'use,' and 'dispose' phases.Ìý
These principles include renewable and recycled materials, efficientÌýresource use, extending product life, and end-of-life product management.
In 2025, we will work to quantitatively assess the environmental impactsÌýof our Smokeless products as part of the ‘design’ phase.
By leveraging these insights, we aim to establish quantifiable design targets, including:
We also aim to understand the full extent of our virgin raw material use and itsÌýenvironmental impact. In doing so, we continue to improve our data quality toÌýinform decisions across the 'make', 'use', and 'dispose' stages of our supply chain.
In 2024, we launched the Green Design Tool, to support our product designersÌýand material scientists understand the environmental impact of current andÌýfuture materials.
Find out more: Read more about our policies and procedures
How we think about using materials in a smarter and more efficient way:
We have undertaking an initial analysis that allows usÌýtoÌýunderstand the full extent of our material use inÌýorder toÌýestablish aÌýbaseline for future reductions.
The diagram below is a visualisation of ourÌýmaterial inflow – or the total amount ofÌýrawÌýmaterials that make up our productsÌýand packaging. Each bar represents the total weight ofÌýmaterials used across our combustibles,ÌýSmokeless products andÌýOther Tobacco Products.
We know that reducing our material footprint is critical to reducing the impact of our Scope 3 emissions.
Areas of focus are:
While we have made progress with mostÌýof our Circularity targets, the global shortage in key materials, such as food-grade post-consumer resin has meant thatÌýwe have withdrawn our target of 30%Ìýaverage recycled content across allÌýplastics packaging.
Addressing this challenge requires collaboration across industries, changes inÌýgovernment policies and investments inÌýnational infrastructure.
Cigarette littering:
Smokeless products: