Environmentally Friendly Cosmetic Packaging

Although cosmetics are products that create beauty, as an important part of the chemical industry, their environmental pollution has always been concealed by human safety issues and not taken seriously. As environmental protection has become more and more important to everyone, whether it is a political bargaining chip, or a responsibility and fashion in life, environmental protection has become a part of human daily life from a concept, and it is an indispensable part of the development of enterprises.

Environmental protection wind blows again

At the recent Asia Pacific Beauty Expo, attendees said that sustainable packaging is becoming more and more important.

For example, Korean cosmetics packaging company FSKorea said that environmentally friendly composite materials will become more and more popular in the market as consumers change their minds. FSKorea exhibited a new type of wood-plastic composite material bottled and compressed production line at this exhibition. According to reports, this production line is the first company in the world to use wood-plastic materials in the cosmetic packaging industry.

JKHwang, president of FSKorea, said that a WPC makeup brush has become a hot-selling brand in US retail stores, and many other brands have begun to pay attention to the material, which reflects the increasing enthusiasm of the market for environmentally friendly packaging materials in the cosmetics industry. .

Hwang said: “FSKorea produces 10 million makeup brushes every year to supply American bodyshop brand retailers, so environmentally friendly products are becoming more and more popular.”

FSKorea mainly uses 75% wood materials and 25% plastics. The material source is mainly sawdust produced by furniture factories with FSC forest certification.

Hwang believes that this 'new material' will continue to grow driven by rising oil prices, restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions, and consumers' enthusiasm for environmentally friendly materials.

The packaging companies interviewed at the Asia-Pacific Beauty Show held in Hong Kong from November 10th to 12th also said that they have also discovered from cosmetic manufacturers that environmental protection topics are gradually being put on the agenda, such as extracting plastic from plants, recycled plastic or Use natural materials such as bamboo directly.

Consumer product giant Unilever announced on November 15 that it has begun to spread carbon footprint in the products it sells. American cosmetics manufacturer Avanda said that most of its plastic bottles have begun to use at least 80% of recycled resin.

At the same time, some packaging company officials also said that many companies are also restricted by the appearance of cosmetic packaging, and the competition that can attract consumers' attention has intensified.


Environmental protection face the crisis of beauty

Rick Schofield, head of Portola Tech International, said, 'I think every cosmetics company will increasingly realize the importance of environmental protection, but on the other hand, it must also take into account the appearance of beauty, so it is difficult to balance the two aspects. One of the obvious The field is recycled materials, which are restricted in use due to appearance factors to many extents, such as the glycol modified PET cosmetic tank line produced by Portola. The transparency of this product cannot be satisfied by recycled resin.' In addition, many companies currently have Senior senior management personnel are responsible for testing the negative environmental impact of products.

Taiwanese cosmetics wood-plastic manufacturer HCP is also very effective in recycling. HCP has been preparing to invest in a reliable supplier in China that can provide recycled plastics for its factories in mainland China, but this work is not that simple. But Jackie Mantle, head of HCP, said that the company currently uses up to 20% of its post-consumer recycled materials on its packaging materials. HCP is a global company with 3,000 employees and has injection molding plants in China, the United States and Mexico.

However, appearance is still very important in many application areas, and has even become the first choice for consumers to purchase products. Some cosmetic manufacturers will use plant-based or biodegradable polylactic acid for packaging materials. However, due to the unsightly appearance of polylactic acid, it is necessary to apply a layer of paint on the appearance.

Market participants are also skeptical about the environmental protection level of polylactic acid materials. Different contents have different requirements for containers. Therefore, different methods must be selected for the products that need to be packaged. Because cosmetics themselves are chemical products, the chemistry of containers is different. The requirements for stability and physical properties are relatively high, while most sustainable packaging uses natural materials that can be completely decomposed, and it is difficult to achieve the physical and chemical properties of traditional containers.” In addition, some companies say it is difficult to use recycled plastics or some non-petrochemical plastics. One of the important reasons is that the cost is too expensive. If you blindly pursue environmental protection, you may lose a large number of customers, and customers rarely ask about the packaging materials of cosmetics.

At present, the society is paying more and more attention to environmental protection, and various environmental protection regulations for packaging materials have been introduced one after another. Sustainable packaging was born in this context. However, the current environmentally friendly packaging design is mostly seen in high-end products and disposable products. 'Cost is the key.' Traditional plastic and glass packaging materials have good mechanical properties and low prices. In addition, after decades of development, they have a wide range of applications. Sustainable packaging due to expensive materials, immature production technology and performance defects, resulting in the current utilization rate is not high.

Due to the current global regulatory restrictions on cosmetic packaging, other packaging manufacturers are also looking for recyclable resins, but this is only limited to some small-package cosmetics, which means that large cosmetic packaging companies will not have to spend a lot of trouble, they will try to change Packaging is used in some non-cosmetic fields, such as bath shampoos or similar fields.