Sustainability Statement

An average woman throws away 300 pounds of femcare in a lifetime. Each of these pads and tampons has an environmental impact of not only the waste of the product, but also of the packaging and plastic or cardboard applicators. In the US alone, an estimated 12 billion pads and 7 billion tampons are thrown away each year. In the UK, 200,000 tonnes of waste is generated from the products and their packaging.

The main environmental impact of products is in fact caused by the processing of raw materials, particularly LDPE (low density polyethylene) or the plastics used in the backing of pads and tampon applicators. The main impact from the life cycle of these products is fossil use, as production of these plastics requires a lot of energy and creates long lasting waste. Freda pads carry the Nordic Swan EcoLabel, are made from 75-80% renewable material and are packed in a single wrap of biofilm. To ensure performance we still need to include a plastic backing, 50% of which is also made from renewable materials. The factory has zero landfill waste, paper and PE goes for direct recycling and all other production goes for incineration, where it’s used to produce heat and electricity. 

Freda believes that any product that doesn’t perform well isn’t sustainable. That’s why we will always put our customers’ needs first, never compromising on hygiene, performance and comfort while always striving for more sustainable products, packaging and ways of doing business. Our tampons are 100% certified organic cotton. If you choose to use an applicator, ours are made from cardboard. In a choice between pads and tampons, pads have more of an environmental impact due to their plastic components. At Freda, we would like to encourage everyone to ditch the applicator and opt for biodegradable organic tampons. However, we know this is not an easy move for some to make, so we are encouraging the change rather than enforcing it. 

Our customers choose Freda because we share their values. They know that their choices can make a real difference. As anyone who lives a sustainable lifestyle is aware, it’s not always easy to find products that live up to our high standards. The ‘perfect’ products don’t always exist but we see this as a reason to be even more demanding, not less. We promise to be unreasonably demanding. Where we use materials, we will always prefer natural, organically grown and sustainably sourced. Where we have no choice but to use plastics we will push for them to be made from plants, not fossil fuels, contain no harmful chemicals and be recyclable. Where recycling is not permitted, as in the case of items with blood on them, then we will demand our materials be biodegradable. We expect our suppliers to go beyond offering us the perfect products and to run their businesses sustainably, source renewable energy, responsibly manage their waste and resources and pay their staff fairly. We recognise that perfection won’t come easily but we won’t stop until we get there.