Unilite, a family run LED work lighting designer and manufacturer based in Redditch, UK, has today announced record sales throughout the pandemic in part due to a change in sustainability practices.
Unilite has committed to making all of its packaging fully recyclable going forward. New packaging will not contain any plastics both in outer packaging as well as committing to removing any plastic for supporting products inside the box. Paper manuals inside the packaging have been swapped to QR codes for digital manuals completely removing the need for additional paper. Within the last 2 years, Unilite has removed 97% of all plastics within packaging with the aim to be 100% recyclable by 2025. Packaging across the entire product range has been made as small as possible which reduces weight and lowers emissions when shipping the products with eco-friendly water soluble packing peanuts used for protection instead of harmful plastic alternatives.
Laura Evans, Director at Unilite says, “It’s not just the packaging that we’re working on, it’s a complete shift in attitude in the way we design our products. We strive to be environmentally conscious and sustainable in every aspect of the business whilst creating products that last.”
In the last 3 years, Unilite has completely phased out proprietary chargers in over 90% of products to be replaced with a single USB-C cable that can be used amongst all of its products cutting down on unnecessary electronic waste.
Nathan Briggs Head of Digital at Unilite says: “Having worked in marketing & advertising for the last 10 years, I’ve seen a stronger demand from consumers for companies to become more environmentally responsible, the goodwill from this action alone can lead to stronger sales. We have recently moved our internal and customer facing web services to using Google Cloud Platform due to their commitment of using 100% renewable energy. Although this is a small change it’s part of a bigger picture that leads customers into having more respect for a brand.
The biggest step forward was the release of Unilite’s Wireless Charging range in 2021 which at launch features a work light and flashlight with two different wireless charging docks. More products are in development including a head torch and larger site lighting which will be released over the next year. The benefit of wireless charging technology comes from the huge amount of plastic waste that is saved by not including individual chargers with every product. In a recent study it suggests consumers throw away over 40 million tons of E-waste a year and only 12.5% of e-waste is recycled by consumers.
Alex Insley Director at Unilite says: “We appreciate not everybody recycles as often as they should. We must take responsibility as a manufacturer to do our part. By not including harmful plastics and unnecessary charging equipment with our products we are taking the recycling decision of the consumer away at source.”
Such a large shift in company policy towards a more sustainable business has taken years of planning and increased costs in R&D but despite this Unilite has financially grown 22% in the past year with a projected growth of 40% YoY over 2020 even after record profits during the pandemic.
Unilite is a family run LED Lighting manufacturer established in 1981 that develops products for the trade industry targeted at electricians, plumbers and the automotive sector. Unilite have supplied products for large organisations including governmental departments, emergency services & Formula 1.
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