Henkel Beauty Care introduces 100% recycled aluminum tubes to Hair Coloration portfolio

25 Nov 2020 --- Henkel’s Beauty Care arm is adding 100 percent recycled aluminum tubes to its Hair Coloration packaging portfolio. The conversion to the new tubes is in process and covers all of the company’s Retail and Professional brands globally. 

The move allows Henkel to support a closed-loop recycling system and reduce its environmental footprint.

Recycled aluminum has a significantly lower energy demand – up to 95 percent less – than virgin aluminum, meaning a significant CO2 reduction can be achieved per aluminum tube. 

Aluminum tubes are fully recyclable and widely recovered through existing waste management systems.

“One of the main advantages of aluminum is the recyclability – the material can be recycled infinitely without losing its mechanical properties and sacrificing quality. Therefore, aluminum as a material class is a great enabler for a circular economy, since 75 percent of the aluminum ever produced on earth is still in use across various applications,” says Philippe Blank, head of circular economy and packaging sustainability at Henkel Beauty Care. 

“By shifting major portfolios to this recycled material, we are demonstrating our commitment to sustainable packaging solutions. While a great focus is placed on plastic packaging, we are advancing innovation and sustainability holistically, across all materials and packaging types.”

High demand for recycled aluminum
In the hair coloration category, aluminum tubes are used to protect the product and allow for easy-to-handle-application by professional hairstylists and consumers. For this reason, they need to fulfill high-quality standards – which are also ensured when using recycled aluminum.

Aluminum demonstrates high recycling quotes globally, yet the availability of recycled material is limited due to the high demand across several industries – the material is also used to produce beverage cans, for example. 

However, switching to recycled aluminum for applications that are facing short life cycles – like consumer packaging – is an important step to reduce the overall footprint of such fast-rotating packaging items, the company says. 

Henkel is working together with its packaging partners and exploring new ways to drive progress along the value chain. The company will not only use post-industrial recycled aluminum for the tubes but integrate up to 95 percent recycled material from post-consumer sources as well.

In addition, Henkel will gradually switch the tubes’ plastic caps to recycled plastic. This becomes even more important when considering the downstream recycling of aluminum-based consumer packaging along the value chain, where plastic materials still attached to the packaging will not get recovered.

Aluminum for beauty care
Henkel’s hair coloration brand Diadem is among the first in the industry in the transition toward aluminum tubes made of 100 percent recycled aluminum, the company supports. The complete product range has recently converted to 100 percent recycled aluminum. Further brands will follow later this year.

Since 2014, Henkel has been promoting the use of recycled aluminum in its packaging and pioneering developments within its industry. As the result of a joint development project with metal packaging supplier Ball, Henkel introduced the world’s first aerosol cans with a 25 percent recycled aluminum content for deodorant sprays under the Fa brand.

Henkel’s next sustainability moves
In the same spirit of circularity, Henkel’s salon haircare brand Authentic Beauty Concept is setting up product refill stations in selected hair salons throughout Europe. The move is dubbed a “first” for the segment and marks an important step toward increasing the brand’s environmental sustainability.

Moreover, Henkel is boosting its Beauty Care portfolio’s environmental sustainability by relaunching three major retail brands – Nature Box, Gliss Kur and Syoss – in packaging with increased proportions of recycled plastic.

Henkel’s Hair care brand Schwarzkopf partnered with TerraCycle earlier this year to make the former’s retail hair care, color and styling products recyclable in the US. Consumers can collect and mail in the empty product packaging from participating Schwarzkopf hair care products. Schwarzkopf’s brandsviable for the recycling program include göt2b styling & color, Color Ultime, Keratin Color and the newly launched Simply Color.

Edited by Kristiana Lalou

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