Protecting resources

Plastic has many advantages: it is light, durable, recyclable, flexible, and currently the most widely used packaging material in the cosmetics industry. But plastic has its downsides as well: Petroleum-based virgin plastics are depleting the valuable and limited fossil resources of our planet, and the plastic waste stream is threatening our oceans and landscapes. The amount of newly produced plastic used worldwide has long exceeded our planet’s capacity. 

More and more big players of the cosmetics industry commit to optimising their product packaging in line with the four sustainable packaging principles of ‘avoid, reduce, reuse and recycle’¹.

Reducing fossil-based material

Recycling and reuse are two options – but there are more ideas for saving resources: For example, the aim to use 50% less fossil-based virgin plastic for a company’s packaging by 2025. Besides the typical path of reducing packaging materials, it is necessary to investigate in alternative materials. A new big step in this direction was the launch of the first product packaging made from certified renewable plastic. 

The jars and lids of a natural product line² worldwide were switched from fossil-based to renewable plastic, originating from a side-product of the forestry industry, so-called tall oil. This not only has the advantage of avoiding the use of fossil resources. The associated reduction in packaging-based CO2 emissions is also considered a step towards a climate-positive future. Approximately 76g of CO2 are saved per jar produced, which corresponds to a reduction of 60% compared to the initial product.

Climate friendly

The renewable polypropylene combines several decisive quality criteria: It is obtained from ‘second generation’ feedstock and thus does not compete with food production such as sugar cane or maize (corn). Furthermore, it enables a packaging solution that is neither visually nor haptically different from the previous packaging and is fully recyclable – completely in line with the intended circular economy. 

As the packaging innovation entails significant CO2 reductions, it provides the ideal springboard for climate neutralisation: any remaining emissions that cannot be avoided or further reduced during the product’s manufacturing process can be offset, for example, with the help of afforestation projects. An important milestone towards a climate-positive future. 

To produce certified, renewable polypropylene (PP), virgin crude oil is replaced by tall oil, a by-product of forestry. Following the principle of mass balancing, it is seamlessly integrated into the manufacturing process.

Need for cooperation

As an industry, all players need to work alongside across the entire value chain through platforms and organisations which seek to put an end to plastic waste. So, a young petro-chemical company³ uses bio-feedstock which is not in direct competition with the human food chain for producing certified renewable polymers and can help miti-gate the impact of climate change.

Collaboration with upstream and downstream partners is key to drive and establish a circular economy for plastics. The new jar is an outstanding example of such a successful three-way value chain collaboration, accelerating the time from ideation to the retailer shelves. 

Mass balancing helps to trace the flow of materials along a complex supply chain, from the feedstock to the final product, by following predefined and transparent rules. These rules then define whether a product can be classified as renew-able or circular.

For our example, this means that for each ton of renewable or circular feedstock fed into the production process and substituting fossil-based feedstock, approximately one ton of the output material can be classified as either renewable or circular. By adopting this approach, the certified products are accredited under the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification Plus (ISCC) scheme.

References:

1 For example global skin care company Beiersdorf 

2 Nivea Naturally Good face care products

3 Sabic