Unilever and Lazada introduce Easy Green in Southeast Asia on Earth Day

On April 22, 2022, this Earth Day, Unilever announced Easy Green, a three-year exclusive e-commerce sustainability partnership with Lazada to enable easy access for millions of Vietnamese consumers who are adopting an eco-friendlier lifestyle. In line with Unilever’s global purpose of making sustainable living commonplace, the two main tenets of the partnership will include an exchange of consumer insights to uncover what shoppers find most important when shopping online, as well as developing the corresponding impactful solutions.

Based on a 2021 Unilever discussion with digital consumers, limited availability, insufficient green labeling, and the excessive use of plastic packaging were the top concerns identified by digital eco-friendly shoppers in Southeast Asia. Unilever’s Easy Green label was designed to help everyday consumers overcome these obstacles, and easily identify and make better green purchases as online shopping is increasingly more integrated into consumers’ daily lifestyles. The Easy Green label will debut on Unilever’s Home Care products via Unilever’s LazMall Flagship stores in Vietnam as well as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Home Care products with the Easy Green label must fulfil at least one of the following criteria –

1. Biodegradability: The product formulation must be at least 99% biodegradable
2. Renewability: The product formulation must at least meet a minimum of 50% renewable carbon sources
3. Reduced greenhouse gases (GHG): A minimum of 10% GHG was reduced in the product compared to the previous formulation
4. Uses Better, Less, or No plastic packaging, where:
   • Better plastic refers to when the plastic bottle packaging uses at least 80% post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic content or if there is any amount of PCR content used in flexible plastic packaging like sachets and pouches
   • Less plastic means if there is at least 5% less virgin plastic used compared to previous packaging
   • No plastic refers to the use of paper-based packaging

“We designed Easy Green to better serve Vietnamese digital eco-shoppers, in line with our Clean Future initiative. It is our commitment to developing products that are high-performing, kind to people and the planet, at accessible prices. This includes our approach to create products that are biodegradable, renewable, and use better, less or no plastic. Our bold ambitions have met a strong partner in Lazada, and we hope that Lazada shoppers in Southeast Asia become one with our vision of a Clean Future for all,” states Do Thai Vuong, Sustainable Business and Communications Vice President, Unilever Vietnam.

“In conjunction with Lazada’s LazEarth campaign to spotlight the sustainability efforts of LazMall brands, we are proud to partner like-minded organisations like Unilever to propel action in protecting our planet. Lazada’s commitment has always been ‘Customers First’, hence we hope that with the increasing assortment of products and choices available online, discerning consumers will increasingly find it easier to identify and shop for eco-friendly products that are also transparent with the items’ lifecycle journey. The Easy Green partnership is a significant move towards a long-term collective goal for a more comprehensive online shopping experience for Lazada shoppers,” added James Chang, Chief Business Officer, Lazada Group.

In addition, starting in Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, Unilever is closely partnering Lazada to further reduce the usage of plastic packaging materials in delivery parcels using Lazada Logistics green packaging solutions. This includes usage of FSC-certified carton boxes as well as recycled shredded paper that replaces previously used plastic fillers.

In Vietnam, for each Homecare order worth from 249,000 VND and above, Unilever will contribute one tree to the tree planting program by OMO's “Dirt for Good - Green Shield of Vietnam”.

D.A (Vietnam Business Forum)