PACKAGING AT GEKCO

Planet is before profit at Gekco.

One of our goals when launching was to change the face of liquid chalk use in climbing, not just through removing harmful ingredients but through reducing and eliminating the single-use plastics used by 100% of liquid chalk companies. The fixed element of the equation we have to work with is that plastic is actually the best material for this product, it needs to be squeezed and so has to be flexible, it needs to be resistant to high alcohol levels so HDPE is perfect and finally it needs to be affordable to make the RRP acceptable to all of us climbing folk! 

From an environmental perspective, plastic has its benefits…

It’s super light so saves on carbon production during transportation, is resilient to drops, knocks and the general roughness of courier networks as well as resistant to the contents held within. To the surprise of many, it’s also not always the cheapest.

So what’s the problem?

Well, plastics are mainly produced from oil, so the raw ingredients are not sustainable. Used responsibly, plastic is no different in its consumption of raw non-regenerative ingredients to glass and metal. The throwaway culture of plastics and the microplastics disaster are the real nightmares here and we need to get a handle on them quickly. 

Consumed responsibly, plastics can be a durable, multi-use receptacle for many products. We just need the infrastructure to reuse them. So that was our first move…

Gekco bottles can be returned to your local stockist once empty for reuse.

We collect, sterilise and refill them, ready for your next purchase in order to reduce the amount of plastic going through the waste system. Our bottles are also 100% recyclable, so if returning them isn't possible or they reach the end of their reuse life they can be widely recycled.

We’re constantly pushing for more from our suppliers and testing new ways of making products within the climbing industry more sustainable and environmentally friendly. 

Here’s our declaration of the current materials used within our business along with their eco-credentials:

Chalk Bottles - Plastic - Refillable and reusable(link it) - HDPE - Widely recycled at end of life  (plastic)

Caps - Plastic - Refillable and reusable(link it) - PET - Widely recycled at end of life (plastic)

Product boxes - Cardboard - 80% recycled board with FSC sourced remainder - Widely recycled (paper)

Packing tape - Sustainably sourced kraft paper - Widely recycled (paper)

Chalk Bags - Paper - FSC sourced and printed with water-based inks - Widely recycled (paper) and home compostable