What’s next for plastic packaging?

What options are there to save material in plastic packaging for cosmetic products?

There are many innovations in the food industry which could be applied to the cosmetics industry. These include reducing wall thickness, functional integration and addressing the aesthetic which creates additional volumes of packaging which are in practical terms unnecessary.

If for example we look at the reduction in the thickness of packaging for cosmetics as we have done in the food industry, it’s possible to reduce packaging thickness from 1.1 to 0.9 mm, a saving of nearly 20%. This would be a simple way of reducing costs and the overall environmental footprint of cosmetic packaging, as we see with other packaging there is no compromise in the performance of the packaging with this reduction.

Secondly, let’s look at functional integration. Many cosmetic items have multiple elements within the packaging which could be integrated into one another reducing both the cost of production, and the complexity of production. For example, we are working on reducing a closure which includes five elements into two functional elements thereby removing three elements. This requires some industrial engineering and the advent of 3-D printing for prototyping means that this kind of innovation can be done quickly and in a beneficial way for the environment.

The survey to save material in plastic packaging for cosmetic products is by addressing the aesthetic dimension of consumer packaging. This could be the greatest gain of all but requires manufacturers to take a different approach to their design and educate consumers that larger packaging does not mean higher quality goods inside. In the food industry where margins are thinner and shelf life requires a quick stock turnaround, food packaging is much closer to the size required for the actual goods being sold. In cosmetics products often the cream is in a low volume with a high value that the perception of value is transferred to the consumer via the complexity of the packaging and the scale of the packaging. Ultimately, we need to modify consumer perception of value as an industry.

What opportunities does the recycling of plastics offer here?

Recycled plastics offer a lot of opportunities in the cosmetics industry if we can overcome the perception and marketing aspects of PCR resins. One of the key aspects is that the cosmetics within packaging do not need to obtain the same regulatory approval as they do for the food industry. This makes the threshold for certain standards much lower than in the food industry. If the goods within the packaging do require certain levels of contact approval from the authorities, then PCR residence will not be appropriate for example face cream packaging.

Another aspect is the aesthetics which, as we know, are also important within cosmetics marketing and branding. Typically, the brand wants to have pure colouration in the packaging, and yet PCR resins are not always as clear as in the original material. Often, we see a very low degree of discolouration in all colours which are not obvious to the naked eye, but which might not meet the design guidelines of a brand manager. 

PCR resin is often a mixture from transparent or white material up to a dark or even black material. If you mix all that together then only dark colours are available for PCR resin packaging. In Germany we say that PCR resin is coming out of the “yellow bin,’ it could have been previously food packaging or house cleaner packaging, and this means there might be a migration of unclear substance into the PCR resin which makes it difficult to get full approval to be used.

There is a tendency to use a chemically recycled material, instead of using a mechanically recycled material, which in the end means that the material will be cracked into the chemical element and then afterwards, it will be recombined again into plastic and then you have a clear and normal plastic material. In this way PCR resins are coming back into the supply chain with many of the qualities of a resin which has only passed through polymerisation for the first time.

The recycling process itself requires some resources such as energy and water. What options are there to optimise the process?

The overall opportunity is to reduce the number of reasons used down to a single resin in one product or product ranges, and a reduction in colour variants. In other words, a simplification and harmonisation of the packaging itself. Much existing packaging is using a combination of different resins like polypropylene, Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and styrene acrylonitrile (SAN). During the recycling process such different resins cause additional effort in sorting and separation.

The other dimension is to address the colouration of packaging. Will use PCR off from the yellow bin inevitably the colour palette is a dark one for the final reason. We can reduce the amount of energy, water and manpower in the production of the end film if we allow for the colour palette which is originating from PCR to be transferred into the consumer packaging; this would be a no colour, neutral option. We spend a lot of resources on returning the packaging to light colouring when indeed in many cases this is unnecessary and is simply a design choice which has an impact on the environment.

What role will chemical recycling processes play in the future?

Chemical recycling of post-consumer used products will increase the availability of resins for a use in cosmetic packaging. But as this is not available without any environmental impact this cannot be the only solution. In Europe, about 30 million tonnes of plastic waste is collected every year. Still, 85% of that is incinerated, exported, or sent to landfill. Chemical recycling will help towards the concept of the circular economy because they will transform plastic waste into the form which we need, for example as PCR resin, to be reintroduced into plastic moulding plants. Ultimately there will be the need for a combination of mechanical and chemical recycling working together throughout the value chain to bring all the plastics once consumed back into the overall production process.

The fewer different materials are used for packaging, the higher the recyclability. What options are there, for example when it comes to labelling?

In our view, there are two main ways to reduce the amount of packaging and at the same time to improve the percentage which can be recycled. The first of these different technologies which avoids the use of classic adhesive labelling is in-mould labelling (IML). The artwork is applied directly during the moulding process to the packaging, instead of applied to the packaging postproduction. In this way, an addi-tional application of an adhesive label can be avoided. We’ve been working with a company called Morphotonix, which also allows for the embedding of a security element within the IML which makes this technology exciting for the cosmetics industry for example because it can reduce the impact of counterfeit products in the market.

The second technology is the digital printing of multicolour artwork directly onto the packaging. By digital printing any CMYK colouration, even pictures, can be printed onto the packaging directly after t he production process. This renders the need for an additional label to be unnecessary. So what advocate is the need to integrate labelling into the process itself to improve the percentage of packaging which can be recycled by consumers and industry, rather than a reduction in the use or size of labelling itself?

To what extent have the demands of brands on their packaging changed in recent years?

What we see is that consumer brands are putting a high amount of focus on having sustainable packaging solutions, and this is driven largely by consumer awareness of the packaging issue. In many cases brands are having to take careful consideration of the different options and set targets within the packaging requirements, addressing marketing and consumer acceptance and in some cases regulatory compliance. What we are also seeing is the introduction of some consumer brands which are reliant on a low packaging, sustainability brand platform, and these are also then changing consumer perception of what is necessary when it comes to cosmetics packaging.