Views: 3 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2020-07-15 Origin: Site
Paper-based cosmetic packaging is the new fashion, with sustainability at its core. Recently, L’Oréal’s small paper tubes have been all the rage in social circles. Indeed, sustainable packaging has significantly boosted the brand’s image. In fact, it’s not just L’Oréal; many industry giants have already entered the field of sustainable cosmetic packaging.
Paper-based cosmetic packaging is the new fashion, with sustainability at its core. L’Oréal’s small paper tubes have been all the rage in social circles lately, demonstrating how sustainable packaging can indeed boost a brand’s image. In fact, it’s not just L’Oréal; many industry giants have already embraced sustainable cosmetic packaging.
The report indicates that the demand for innovative, high-quality, and unique packaging designs will be a key factor driving the continuous growth of the cosmetic packaging market in the coming years. In the current domestic beauty market, some products tend to have similar packaging designs. Thus, it is conceivable that brands could explore more diverse ways to innovate in the appearance of beauty products by changing materials, such as using paper-based packaging materials.
The promotion of paper packaging aligns significantly with the current trend towards green and eco-friendly practices. Its excellent biodegradability also resonates with consumers’ perception of “natural and harmless” products.
Of course, such interpretations are more of a judgment derived from the necessity of promoting paper packaging materials. When it comes to the practical application, what is the market potential for paper packaging in the beauty industry?
Regarding this question, Naijizi, a rising brand in the cosmetics sector, indicates that it has been exploring new applications for paper packaging materials. Naijizi believes that the imaginative space for craft design in paper packaging is expanding. It is waterproof, dirt-resistant, reduces wear and tear, and possesses a certain texture, offering certain advantages in the presentation of color and artistic patterns.
Albéa has stated that its introduced “paper tube packaging” features innovations in both materials and manufacturing processes. However, there are currently limitations in terms of raw material availability and machine production capacity. The company’s spokesperson admitted candidly that due to technological bottlenecks, paper materials are challenging to implement using existing injection and blow molding processes for many beauty categories, and it is unlikely to become mainstream in the cosmetics sector in the short term. Additionally, the cost of biodegradable materials, including paper products, remains high. For brands and consumers alike, there are certain limitations to the extent that paper materials can convey a high-end product image.
Chen Jun, the founder of Xin Chuang Supply Chain, told Ju Mei Li that most skincare products currently cannot directly use paper packaging as containers for filling. On one hand, there are limitations in the appearance and structural forms of paper packaging, such as the lack of transparency, the genuine metallic texture and feel. On the other hand, there are potential stability issues for the products due to the sealing properties of paper materials; without a plastic film lamination, paper packaging can easily deform under slight pressure," Chen Jun explained.
Li Qiu Shui, the person in charge of Guangdong Shantou Hengyi Packaging, similarly pointed out that paper packaging materials have always been experimented with in the beauty industry as a form of cosmetic packaging. However, due to the characteristics of beauty products, the cost, and market demand channels, paper packaging has not yet become mainstream.
“For color cosmetics, the containers often require a high degree of variability in appearance (such as CL’s Radish Tint lip product), but the paper material’s craftsmanship is relatively limited, usually only able to produce simple shapes like circles or squares,” Li Qiu Shui mentioned.
From the interviews, this editor tentatively concludes that it is still difficult to make a definitive statement on whether paper packaging will become another choice for brands in the future, truly becoming a norm and marketable option. However, it is not hard to see from the discussions above that if paper packaging materials can offer better solutions in terms of cost and usability in the future, they may become an even more notable choice.
The environmental pollution caused by cosmetic packaging, coupled with consumers’ growing recognition of the concept of eco-friendly packaging, a bottom-up revolution in environmental packaging is underway.
Not alone in this endeavor, the American FMCG giant Procter & Gamble also recently announced the use of its first all-paper tube packaging.
Reportedly, the paper tube packaging is made from 90% recycled paper. Procter & Gamble has introduced this design for its deodorant brands Old Spice and Secret. If the design proves popular with consumers, P&G plans to further expand its use to other products.
At this stage, there are still only a few brands on the market that directly choose paper as the packaging (cosmetic containers) for skincare or color cosmetics products.
So, is it possible that paper packaging materials could replace today’s plastic packaging materials in the future and become a more common choice in the beauty industry?
Indeed, this is not the first time international brands have used eco-friendly packaging. Previously, Procter & Gamble launched a Head & Shoulders shampoo bottle made from 25% recycled ocean plastic. The sustainability of cosmetic packaging is also not a new topic.
To address the issues of non-degradable plastic and glass packaging that pollute the environment, major brands have already begun to focus on empty bottle recycling and the application of eco-friendly materials.
Kiehl’s and Lancôme have teamed up with TerraCycle to launch an “empty bottle recycling” program; Intime Department Store has also collaborated with Octopus Recycling to initiate a cosmetic “empty bottle recycling program.”
Empty bottle recycling not only prevents unscrupulous businesses from profiting a second time from empty bottles but also helps establish a brand’s eco-friendly image in the minds of consumers.
In addition to empty bottle recycling, some brands are choosing to reduce the use of plastic packaging materials and increase the application of green and eco-friendly packaging.
For instance, the paper tube packaging mentioned earlier introduced by L’Oréal Group has reduced plastic content by 45%. Procter & Gamble also recently announced that it will use 90% recycled paper packaging for its deodorant brands Old Spice and Secret. Some domestic emerging brands, such as Judo, have also launched products with paper packaging.
Cosmetics giants are publicly committing to reducing the use of plastics in their packaging.
Public information shows that Procter & Gamble has committed to reducing the use of virgin plastic in packaging by 50% by 2030; Unilever has pledged to reduce the absolute use of plastic packaging by more than 100,000 tons by 2025 and accelerate the use of renewable plastics, thereby halving the use of new plastic; In 2018, L’Oréal set a sustainable development commitment to “achieve 100% eco-friendly product packaging by 2020.” The promotion and application of this paper packaging are an important part of this commitment.
International packaging giants are also strengthening the research and development of eco-friendly materials.
For example, Knoll Prestige Packaging, a world-leading luxury packaging producer, has introduced Ecoform renewable materials, which are made from bamboo, sugarcane, and wood, and are 100% biodegradable. Geka, a globally renowned company in cosmetic packaging and makeup tools, has launched a biodegradable mascara product, with the outer packaging made from two biodegradable materials, cork and cotton, and 84% of the brush material derived from sugarcane.
Currently, in the domestic beauty market, some products tend to have similar packaging designs. This leads to the idea that brands might explore more diverse approaches to innovating the appearance of beauty products through the variation of materials (such as paper packaging).
Moreover, the promotion of paper packaging aligns significantly with the current trend towards green and eco-friendly practices. Its excellent biodegradability also resonates with consumers’ perception of “natural and harmless” products.
Every second, an average of 3,400 plastic bottles enter the ocean.
These plastic bottles are not completely decomposed; after numerous “voyages,” they become microplastics, entering the stomachs of birds, fish, and many other animals, and then infiltrating the terrestrial food chain. Ultimately, the plastic that we throw into the sea is eaten back by us bite by bite, becoming an unconscious form of microplastic pollution…
Among these 3,400 plastic bottles, there might just be the cosmetic bottles and jars that you casually discarded.
For this reason, an increasing number of beauty companies are calling for natural materials to replace plastic in the production of cosmetic containers, such as biodegradable paper packaging.
According to Luxe.CO, the French beauty giant L’Oréal Group has collaborated with the beauty product packaging supplier Albéa to develop a paper cosmetic tube packaging. This packaging will be first used in a sunscreen product from L’Oréal’s derma-cosmetic brand La Roche-Posay.
△Image from Luxe.Co
A senior executive responsible for the Southern region of beauty product packaging supplier Albéa, in an interview with Ju Mei Li, stated that La Roche-Posay’s paper tube packaging uses a sheet material developed in collaboration with strategic suppliers, while also improving the tube-making equipment, which has independent intellectual property rights.
Compared to traditional cosmetic packaging, this paper packaging has reduced plastic content by 45%. A spokesperson for the L’Oréal Group said that in the future, the paper cosmetic tube packaging will be applied to more products across the group’s various brands.
Notably, the American FMCG giant Procter & Gamble also recently announced the use of its first all-paper tube packaging.
Reportedly, the paper tube packaging is made from 90% recycled paper. Procter & Gamble has introduced this design for its deodorant brands Old Spice and Secret. If the design proves popular with consumers, P&G plans to further expand its use to other products.
From its inception, the New Zealand brand Ethique Beauty has used recyclable paper-based solid packaging for a range of products, including facial cleansers, moisturizers, exfoliants, hair masks, shampoos, and conditioners.
In the domestic market, this editor has noticed that some emerging brands are also starting to adopt a strategy of using paper packaging.
In a previous new product article by Ju Mei Li, a personified makeup brand Naijizi NONO NOTES was mentioned. Among the brand’s current 19 products, most have chosen to use paper packaging materials.
Naijizi told Ju Mei Li that its products feature a pure paper palette design for eyeshadows and blushes, and use biodegradable oil paper to wrap lip gloss. Naijizi hopes to interpret the brand’s style through creative mix-and-match with paper packaging and other eco-friendly materials, giving the products a personality that is “environmentally friendly.”
Naijizi presents anthropomorphic illustration themes on its paper packaging, and many emerging brands also choose paper packaging materials as containers for eyeshadow palettes to showcase more individualized creative expressions. For example, the color cosmetics brand Mengwei Moonway launched a Mahjong-inspired makeup series with a six-color eyeshadow palette, and the up-and-coming domestic brand Judo has playful fruit-themed eyeshadow palettes and vacation-themed palettes.
△The left image shows Mengwei’s paper eyeshadow palette, and the right image shows Judo’s paper eyeshadow palette, both screenshots from the official flagship store.
However, at this stage, the number of brands that directly choose paper as the packaging (cosmetic containers) for skincare or color cosmetics products is still relatively few. Could paper packaging materials potentially replace today’s plastic packaging materials in the future, becoming a more common choice in the beauty industry?
Let’s look at which organizations are promoting sustainable packaging.
Investigates critical issues that must be addressed on the path to sustainable development and publishes sustainable development reports. Titles include “Eliminating the Use of Single-Use Plastics Within Five Years,” “Plastic Pollution Threatens the Marine Ecosystem,” and “Policy Options and Actions to Accelerate Progress: Waste Management.” It calls on national and municipal governments to speed up pollution control and the industrial maturity of recycling materials.
In the 2019 consultation on the “Industrial Structure Adjustment Guidance Directory,” promotes the development and application of technologies and equipment for recycling and reusing old textiles, the production of high-value-added products such as polyester industrial yarn, differentiated and functional polyester filaments, and nonwoven materials from recycled polyester materials. It also advocates for the promotion and application of water-saving and waterless energy-saving printing and dyeing processing, as well as efficient “three wastes” (waste water, waste gas, and solid waste) treatment and resource recycling technologies.
According to the latest report jointly released by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and UN Environment, titled “New Plastics Economy Global Commitment Spring 2019 Report,” 150 companies worldwide have signed this commitment, indicating their active measures to cease the use of unnecessary plastic packaging.
The plastic packaging consumption of all signatories accounts for approximately 20% of the global total. This includes the beauty and personal care sector, with the three giants L’Oréal Group, Johnson & Johnson, and Unilever. In the fashion domain, renowned companies such as Burberry, Stella McCartney, H&M, and Inditex, the parent company of Zara, are involved. Chain supermarket brands like Walmart, Target, and Carrefour are also part of this initiative. Additionally, it includes food and beverage giants such as Danone, PepsiCo, and The Coca-Cola Company, as well as plastic packaging manufacturers like Amcor and Novamont.
Taking Burberry as an example, by 2025, all of the brand’s product packaging will be made from recyclable and biodegradable materials. To date, the brand has eliminated plastic lamination from retail bags and garment covers, reducing plastic usage by 29 tons. By the end of this year, Burberry plans to replace all current hangers, covers, and plastic bags with eco-friendly alternative materials. The brand will also launch a hanger recycling program to recycle and reuse hangers generated from retail operations.
Discloses environmental issues and advocates for green peace, demanding that brands at the top of the food chain “pay the bill” for Earth’s environmental problems.
Intertek is an enabler for business development, ranging from environmental impact assessments of lifecycle assessment, carbon footprint, water footprint, and energy footprint, to the establishment of GLF-recycle certification, the revision and certification of the Global Recycle Standard (GRS), and providing the most accurate and authoritative data analysis for ZDHC and Detox zero discharge of hazardous substances.
Adidashas announced plans to fully replace new plastic with recycled plastic by 2024 to enhance the environmental friendliness and sustainability of its supply chain.
The Adidas Spring/Summer 2019 clothing collection will have 41% of its production materials made from recycled plastic.
Additionally, Adidas has also stated that it will stop using new plastic in the construction of its offices, retail stores, warehouses, and distribution centers. This will help the brand save approximately 40 tons of plastic annually starting from 2018.
The “Circularity: Guiding the Future of Design” sustainable design guidelines have been released, proposing ten principles for the circular regenerative design of products. These principles cover aspects such as raw materials, renewability, waste reduction, biodegradability, green chemistry, refurbishment, flexibility, durability, regenerative packaging, and business model innovation. The aim is to promote the standardization and normalization of sustainable supply chains within the industry.
In 2019, 58% of all H&M products were made using sustainable materials, and this proportion is gradually increasing. The company plans to use 100% recycled or other sustainably sourced materials by 2030, making a sustainable fashion future a reality.
C&A’s official website regularly publishes sustainability reports annually, showcasing the sources of raw material procurement, disclosing the brand’s greenhouse gas and water “footprints,” and revealing highly transparent supply chain information. Starting from 2016, C&A has hosted the “Green Fashion” event worldwide every year.
In the “2017 Global Sustainability Report” released by C&A and the C&A Foundation, it was shown that by 2017, C&A had launched over 1.3 million pieces of Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Certified™ apparel to the global market, maintaining the most sustainable fashion collection currently available on the market. Moreover, C&A has committed to ensuring that by 2020, two-thirds of C&A’s procurement materials will be sourced from more sustainable materials.
The American fashion company Gap Inc. has announced that by 2025, it will ensure that all the cotton used in its products will be sourced from “more sustainable sources.”
The Monogram series, crafted from renewable and eco-friendly materials, has been launched. The footwear and bags within the series are made using an e-canvas sustainable fabric, which is a blend of thermoplastic polyurethane and cotton. Compared to traditional fabrics, the production of this material consumes less water and results in lower carbon emissions.
Drawing on advanced expertise in materials science and sustainable design, Rothy’s uses renewable foam materials made from recycled plastic bottles and other recyclable materials, 100% vegan and non-toxic adhesives, and carbon-free rubber outsoles in their shoe-making process. Additionally, Rothy’s employs its patented 3D knitting technology to reduce waste from an average of 35% to less than 5% in the manufacturing process, and all of their shoes are machine washable.
Since its inception, Rothy’s has recovered over 20 million plastic bottles from landfills and transformed them into women’s flats, casual shoes, and sneakers.
IKEA has updated its sustainability strategy report, People & Planet Positive, which was launched in 2012, announcing its latest commitments to sustainability by 2030, including the following main points:
By 2020, all IKEA restaurants in stores worldwide will stop using single-use plastic products.
All IKEA products will be made using new environmentally friendly methods, using only renewable and recycled materials in the process.
By collaborating with home product suppliers, reduce the average carbon footprint of each product by 70%.
Achieve zero emissions in the home delivery process by 2025.
Compared to 2016, by 2030, the climate impact of stores and other businesses will be reduced by 80% in absolute terms.
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Procter & Gamble plans to use 500 million packaging bottles containing recycled plastic in the European market by the end of 2018, with the hair care brands achieving a recycled plastic bottle usage rate of over 90%, including brands such as Pantene and Head & Shoulders.
In early January 2019, the international consumer goods giant Unilever made a sustainability commitment: by 2025, the plastic packaging design of its brands’ products will meet “three environmental standards” – to be reusable, recyclable, and degradable.
Since 2011, Nestlé Waters has been continuously expanding the use of recycled plastic (rPET) in its packaging. In February this year, the company launched its first 700ml Nestlé Pure Life bottle made entirely from 100% recycled plastic.
In his speech on the day, Fernando Mercé also stated that Nestlé Waters plans to increase the proportion of recycled plastic bottles to 25% by 2021 and to raise the proportion of recycled plastic packaging to 50% by 2025.
In addition, Nestlé has recently signed “The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment,” which aims to tackle plastic pollution at its source. One of the goals of this commitment is to ensure that by 2025, 100% of plastic packaging can be easily and safely reused, recycled, or composted through innovation.
The world’s largest coffee chain giant, Starbucks, has announced that it will completely eliminate single-use plastic straws by 2020, replacing them with a recyclable cold cup lid similar to a children’s sippy cup lid.
By 2020, more than 28,000 Starbucks stores worldwide will stop using single-use straws, expected to save over 1 billion plastic straws annually.
McDonald’s has indicated that it will begin testing alternatives to single-use straws in select stores this year and will offer biodegradable paper straws to customers in the UK by 2019. Last May, Bon Appétit Management, a foodservice company with about 1,000 locations in the US, also decided to phase out single-use plastic straws.
REVERB aims to use advanced technology to recycle recyclable fabrics and promote sustainable development. In the Spring/Summer 2019 clothing collection, the brand used mostly certified organic or recyclable natural materials, avoiding the use of harmful chemicals during production, minimizing waste, and reducing the consumption of water and other energy resources.
Erdos Group’s commitment to sustainability will involve participating in various environmental activities launched by Global Fashion Agenda, building a comprehensive cashmere industry chain operation system based on sustainable development, and jointly promoting the sustainable development of the global fashion industry.
For Spring/Summer 2019, Erdos launched a limited-edition eco-friendly collection of storage handbags, makeup bags, and organizers made from biodegradable “DuPont paper”.
The MASH Style Lab has launched a new lingerie brand called Underson Underson, which uses washi fiber fabric. The products of Underson Underson are mostly solid colors and also use natural plants for dyeing the fabric. The wood used to make the washi fiber is sourced entirely from regulated forests, reducing environmental pollution.
Ukrainian eco-friendly jeans brand Ksenia Schnaid has collaborated with denim textile giant ISKO to launch the Ksenia Schnaid X ISKO eco-capsule collection. The fabric used in this collection is called ISKO Earth Fit, which is made from organic cotton, recycled cotton, and recycled plastic bottles.
Ksenia Schnaid was established in 2011, and currently, one-third of the brand’s products are made from recycled denim. In order to produce items in an eco-friendly manner, they recycle more than 6,000 pairs of second-hand jeans as raw materials each year.
The Stretch Rainshadow Jacket is a new waterproof shell made from Econyl material, which is 100% composed of recycled nylon textiles and includes discarded fishing nets as one of its raw materials.
