Frequently asked questions

We would love to have the FSC logo on our boxes, but unfortunately the FSC's guidelines in the FSC's design manual are incompatible with our own design manual.

In short: Unfortunately, there is not enough space on our boxes to display the FSC logo.

Update: From 2021, we will place the FSC, Carbon Neutral and 100% recyclable logos on the inside of our boxes.

You may like or dislike big companies, but it is undeniable that many of them make great efforts and support initiatives, perhaps only out of a sense of goodwill or even a genuine commitment to the cause. The use of palm oil from sustainable, environmentally friendly farming is one such case. We are not a large global company, but for those of our products that require the use of palm oil for physiological and product content reasons, there is no other source than RSPO.

Of course, the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has also been criticised. Producers who join the RSPO pledge not to cut down rainforest for their plantations, to protect water resources, and to prevent soil degradation. But critics of the initiative say enforcement is lagging behind, and the reality remains a grim picture. However, responsible and informed speakers do not claim that palm oil can be dispensed with or set aside. There are many reasons for this, but from the point of view of protecting the environment, it is worth pointing out that the oil palm needs a much smaller area of land than other oil-producing crops to produce the same yield.

The truth is that companies that buy RSPO certified palm oil, even at a higher price, are encouraging the producer to put an increasing proportion of its production on this environmentally responsible path. Meanwhile, the Roundtable is doing its utmost to monitor the compliance of its member producers with their commitments and to rank them through an up-to-date rating system, thus ensuring clarity for consumers and real protection of our environment.

Our supplier has the following certificates:

  • ISO 9001:2008 (certificate number SG96/07145)
  • ISO 14001:2004 (certificate number SG09/02651)
  • OHSAS 18001:207 (certificate number 18072007 CB 02)
  • BRCGS Food Safety (BRC Food)
  • HALAL (certificate number 1 101-06/2004)
  • KOSHER (Kp)
  • Responsible Care®
  • HACCP (certificate number AR 4868)
  • GMP (certificate number GMP 004)
  • GMP+B2 (GMP+)
  • RSPO (certificate number: RSPO-1106058)
  • ECOCERT raw material (COSMOS approved)

The organization of storage, purification, and recycling requires a much larger and more complex organizational system, plant size, and specific expertise than ours. At our collection point, we have the possibility to drop off used cans and bottles, but we cannot reuse them, we also put them in a separate waste bin.

More than half of our products can be consumed for several months. One of our most popular products is vitamin D3, which lasts for almost three-quarters of a year.

We would love to, but unfortunately, this is the truth in short: "Most PLA-based plastics are made from corn starch, but they can only biodegrade if they are sent to an industrial composter. This is because the 60°C required to decompose PLA plastics is not typical of a home, backyard composters."

As expensive as materials other than PET are, which are more or less suitable for storage, we would see a lot more of them coming out of the hands of responsible companies if their spread were not hindered by circumstances that cannot be remedied at our level. In the early 2000s, a Czech study carried out an in-depth analysis comparing the environmental impact of PET and glass.
The author, who was awarded a professional prize for his work, found that glass refilled 40 times had the least overall negative environmental impact, compared not only with glass alternatives but also with PET alternatives.

The best PET alternative (landfill) also has three times the negative impact. However, it is the glass without refilling that causes the greatest negative impact, and organizing the recycling, storage, cleaning requires a much larger and more complex organizational system, plant size, and special expertise than ours.

The paint is vegetable oil-based, but the pigments are not made from natural materials, so unfortunately the can is not recommended for composting, although the printers have said that the more harmful substances evaporate as they dry. We were not convinced.  

As for adhesives, the only compostable ones are the ones used to stick labels on old jars (cucumber, bait jars, etc.) These could be easily soaked. Unfortunately, however, this adhesive is unsuitable for gluing cardboard boxes because it cannot withstand bending. 

A valid point, but the small jar is also blown from the same preform as the larger version used for our products. Of course, packaging could still be saved, but that would only be true if more of our products were made in such small packaging.

  • Boxes of boxed products: waste paper.
  • Paper accessories and tags of boxed products: waste paper.
  • Boxed product jars: plastic waste
  • Pipette glass of boxed products:
    • Pipette helmet (detachable from pipette): plastic waste, as is the entire plastic top.
    • Glass: glass waste.
  • Multivitamin spoon: plastic waste.
  • Silica gel sachet: municipal waste. (cannot be collected separately.)
  • Pouches for sachets: municipal waste. (cannot be collected separately.)

Do you have further questions?

Contact us via info@galvitamin.ie we will be happy to answer you.

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