An approach to eco-friendly packaging: COSSMA

Philipp Wolansky from Awantys talks about the challenges involved for the plastic packaging industry when it comes to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. Find out what his solution is.

Five years ago, U.S. President Barack Obama diagnosed: “The debate [on whether there is climate change] is settled. Climate change is a fact”1. While the ratification of the Paris Agreement from 2016 by de facto 187-1 parties illustrates that Obama’s view has been globally accepted2,3 in the meantime, we are nowadays facing the controversy on another question: What must each stakeholder contribute in order to slash global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to a level that limits the rise of the global average temperature to ‘well below’ two degrees Celsius?

The challenge

Examining the drivers of CO2 emissions, a recent study by the Centre of International Environmental Law (CIEL) predicts the GHG emissions of plastics to more than triple by 2050⁴. This development is over-proportionally driven by the emissions of plastic packaging which represents more than 40% of all plastics and will grow by more than 700% (fig. 1). CIEL underlines that up to 90% of plastics’ emissions originate from the generation of plastic (i.e., particularly extraction of raw material, transportation and refining) as more than 90% of their feedstocks is petrochemical. Hence, plastics’ share of the annual global oil consumption will increase from 6% to 20% between 2014 and 2050 as forecasted by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMAF)⁵.

As a result, EMAF projects that in 2050 GHG emissions from the plastic lifecycle will constitute up to 15% of the global annual emission budget as defined by the Paris Agreement. Looking at the global trend of introducing carbon pricing schemes, this needs to be factored into plastic prices going forward.

And why is this a challenge for the cosmetics industry?

With more than 60% of its packaging made from plastics, the personal care industry is forced to find alternatives to conventional plastics in order to drastically reduce its contribution to GHG emissions⁶, irrespective of one’s point of view on climate change.

As a consequence, the sector is predominantly rushed by three groups of stakeholders:

Currently, 16% of end consumers in Europe, North America and Asia have stopped buying personal care products due to environmental concerns7. Regarding packaging, research suggests that 75% of European end consumers are now influenced in their purchasing decisions by the environmental impact of a product’s packaging (fig. 2)⁸.
The avalanche of distribution partners’ announcements to either eliminate plastics completely from their products’ packaging (e.g., Iceland, the U.K.9) or to use 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025 (e.g., Walmart¹⁰, Carrefour¹¹, Boots¹², Lidl¹³) sets a benchmark for private label manufacturers as well as for brand and license owners. The latter are particularly sensitive since they are traditionally in a challenging position when it comes to resisting distributors’ demands¹².
Legislators have begun to limit the use of conventional plastics in consumer goods by either prohibiting their use (e.g., ban on single-use plastic items in the E.U. as of 2021¹⁴) or by stipulating the share of recyclate in plastic packaging (30% in the E.U. as of 2030¹⁴). Prominent voices calling for tighter regulations of plastics are on the rise.

The implications

In the light of this disruptive trinity, cosmetics manufacturers must define their plastics strategy. Reducing or even eliminating packaging as done by Lush for a range of ‘naked’ products is one avenue to explore. Yet, ceasing to use plastics completely seems inconceivable. As a result, the European Commission (E.C.) has set clear guardrails for all market participants through its E.U. Plastics Strategy that lays “[…] the foundations for a new circular plastics economy […]”, as summarised by E.C. VP Jyrki Katainen. What, precisely, does this mean?

Fig. 3 depicts three basic principles of a circular plastics economy:

A renunciation of exploiting fossil feedstocks to generate virgin plastics.

Due to an increasing demand and a quality loss through recycling, virgin material must always be added — even in a circular economy. Since up to 90% of conventional plastics’ GHG emissions come from its petrol-/gas-based production4, an honest attempt to combat climate change requires the conversion to 100% bio-based materials. That excludes ‘drop-in solutions’ such as Bio-PET which are only partly bio-based¹⁶.

An increase of recycling rates. For this purpose, the E.C. has promised a nine-digit budget for “making recycling processes more efficient” which according to the Fraunhofer Institute must also be deployed to implement the already available technologies for sorting bio-based plastics in the recycling process16. Presently, the latter are separated from the six ‘pure’ streams which is not comprehensible since recycling operators accept higher contamination rates than the less than 1% of bioplastics in waste streams would cause¹⁶. Yet, the currently low recycling rates even in highly developed economic areas (e.g., E.U. 30%¹⁷; U.S. less than 10%, and declining¹⁸), illustrate that a significant share of global plastics will still leave the cycle in the foreseeable future.

That is why a controlled after-use management will be a key lever to reducing plastics’ negative environmental impacts. Besides the reusability of a plastic item, a plastic’s (industrial) compostability as a means to return nutrients to the soil is vital in a circular economy as emphasised by EMAF5. Up to now, a large share of waste plastics leaks into the environment globally (~37% according to the WWF¹⁹). In the future, a plastic’s biodegradability will be key to minimising the effects on the environment.

A solution

In the light of the complexity of the current situation, our company has launched Awyverde, a new line of sustainable primary packaging for skin care, make-up and fragrances for customised and standardised designs. The line is based on RCM-1801. This biocompound can be produced at a very competitive price level, 30–90% below that of known bioplastics such as PLA or PHB.

In line with the demands set by a circular economy, it is 100% non-petrochemical. Two thirds of the raw materials are renewable (e.g., rice bran wax) while one third consists of abundant minerals such as chalk. Neither crude oil nor coal or natural gas need to be extracted and refined but RCM-1801 is produced through compounding. This is why the production of this material significantly reduces GHG emissions along the value chain.

In addition, producing Awyverde primary packaging does not require any special investments, as RCM-1801 can be processed in conventional injection moulds and decorated with established technologies such as varnishing or silk-screen printing.

RCM-1801 can be recycled and may be disposed in the recycling bin (code 7). What is more, the material is certified for industrial composting (OK Compost by TÜV Austria). Its biodegradation takes five to ten years depending on the conditions and geometry of the parts and releases valuable substances such as carbonate of calcium contained in chalk. In contrast, fossil-based plastics take about 450 years to decompose.

Third party certificates confirming the suitability of RCM-1801 to be used for primary cosmetic packaging are available and include but are not limited to REACH/SVHC, food safety, migration properties (Reg. 10/2011 (EU)), OK Compost Industrial (by TÜV Austria) as well as a proof of its non-petrochemical origin.

As Ted Turner, Chairman of the United Nations Foundation’s board of directors, maintained: “We can turn things around — but we must move beyond climate talk to climate action”.

Obviously, a biocompound such as the one used for our packaging line Awyverde will not solve all environmental issues caused by plastics. It is, however, an effective and ready-to-use contribution to combatting climate change.

References

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Carrefour (2019, February 21). Carrefour is taking action against plastic packaging. Retrieved from Carrefour: http://www.carrefour.com/current-news/carrefour-is-taking-action-against-plastic-packaging

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European Parliament (2019, March 27). Parliament seals ban on throwaway plastics by 2021. Retrieved from European Parliament: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20190321IPR32111/parliament-seals-ban-on-throwaway-plastics-by-2021

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Kluger, J. (2016, April 28). How Climate Deniers Try to Sow Confusion. (T. Magazine, Ed.) Retrieved from Time Magazine: https://time.com/4308518/climate-change-settled-science/

Lidl (2019, April 29). 100 Prozent recyceltes PET in Getränkeflasche: Lidl setzt bei 1,5-Liter "Saskia still"-Wasserflasche ausschließlich auf Rezyklat. Retrieved from Presseportal: https://www.presseportal.de/pm/58227/4256726

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Miller, C. (2019, June 26). UK’s biggest retailers sign up to an ambitious plan to ban eight plastic items by the end 2020 and look for more sustainable replacements. Evening Standard. Retrieved from https://www.standard.co.uk/futurelondon/theplasticfreeproject/boots-marks-spencer-asda-and-cocacola-plastic-sustainable-microplastics-plastic-strawspvc-packaging-a4176146.html

Plumer, B. (2017, June 1). What to Expect as U.S. Leaves Paris Climate Accord. Retrieved from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/climate/us-paris-accord-what-happens-next.html

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Walmart (2019, February 26). Walmart Announces New Plastic Packaging Waste Reduction Commit-ments. Retrieved from Walmart: https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2019/02/26/walmart-announces-new-plastic-packaging-waste-reduction-commitments

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) (2019). Solving Plastic Pollution Through Accountability. Gland, Switzerland: Word Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).