Beiersdorf employs SABIC’s renewable PP for new Nivea face cream jars

06 May 2021 --- SABIC is partnering with personal care heavyweight Beiersdorf on the latter’s new Nivea brand packaging. SABIC’s bio-based polypropylene (PP) resin, part of its TruCircle portfolio, will be used for producing the jars of Nivea’s range of Naturally Good day and night face creams.

“Converting the packaging to renewable plastic not only has the advantage of conserving fossil resources but also reduces CO2 emissions,” Abdullah Al-Otaibi, general manager of engineering thermoplastics & market solutions for petrochemicals at SABIC, tells PackagingInsights.

According to Beiersdorf, approximately 76 g of CO2 is saved per jar produced, a reduction of around 60 percent compared to the fossil-based jar.

The new Nivea packaging will be phased in at point-of-sale outlets worldwide from June 2021 and helps Beiersdorf reduce its use of fossil-based virgin PP.

“We hope the sustainability actions we take with Nivea are inspiring the industry and contribute to moving it forward,” Katrin Selzer, senior communication manager for Beiersdorf, tells PackagingInsights.

The project also contributes to Beiersdorf’s climate target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent absolutely across its entire value chain by 2025.

“Derived from second-generation renewable feedstock, such as tall oil waste from the wood pulping process in the paper industry, SABIC’s polymers are not in direct competition with human food production sources,” notes Al-Otaibi.SABIC's bio-based PP resin will be used to produce the jars of Nivea's Naturally Good range of face creams.

Sustainability agenda
The new Nivea jars pay into the sustainability agenda Care Beyond Skin, through which Beiersdorf is targeting a significant reduction of its carbon emissions and environmental footprint. 

The agenda has set three major packaging goals to be achieved by 2025 against a 2019 baseline: make all its packaging 100 percent refillable, reusable or recyclable; increase the share of recycled materials in its plastic packaging to 30 percent; and reduce its use of fossil-based virgin plastics by 50 percent.

“This is an important change in the packaging of our Nivea brand products and the first in the skincare mass market to use PP made from second-generation bio-based feedstock on a global basis,” says Michael Becker, head of global packaging development at Beiersdorf. 

“Beiersdorf’s new Nivea packaging can serve as a role model in this quest,” Al-Otaibi says.

“Our materials from renewable sources facilitate the change-over from existing fossil-based applications without compromises on purity, quality, safety or convenience. SABIC is determined to help its collaboration partners benefit from this potential.”

From production to shelf
The new Nivea jar is an example of a successful three-way value chain collaboration, accelerating the time from ideation to the retailer shelves. 

By bringing SABIC to the table to work together with Berry Global, an upstream partner of the brand owner for the production of face care packaging, Beiersdorf managed to advance the project from concept to implementation in just nine months. 

“We need these strong partnerships along the value chain and are very pleased we were able to establish and implement such a good cooperation with our suppliers Berry Global and SABIC,” notes Isabel Hochgesand, chief procurement officer at Beiersdorf.

“Society is currently facing some of the biggest challenges and we must work together to solve them. SABIC’s vision for the future is that plastic should never end up in the environment, landfill or in our oceans and instead is reused and remade into new products,” Al-Otaibi adds.

“Our many partnerships, such as with Beiersdorf, are the result of true collaboration and innovation, and another step forward to closing the loop on used plastics.”

Climate footprint reduction
The certified products from SABIC’s TruCircle portfolio are being produced through the implementation of a mass balance accounting system. 

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 “renewable” or “circular.” For SABIC, this means that for each ton of renewable or circular feedstock fed into the production process, approximately a ton of the output materials can be classified as either renewable or circular. 

By adopting this approach, the certified products from SABIC’s TruCircle portfolio are accredited under the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification Plus (ISCC) scheme.

“We aim for a transformation of our business and a transformation of the whole industry, so more products and packaging must be switched from fossil-based materials to renewable alternatives, in order to reduce emissions, so save resources and to protect our environment,” notes Selzer.

“The more we progress with this, the bigger the positive effect will be. Through our size and share of voice in the market, we can effectively bring sustainability topics to our consumers’ attention and create awareness,” she concludes.

By Kristiana Lalou