How can the cosmetics industry achieve packaging circularity? Pact Collective and Eastman weigh in

05 Sep 2022 --- Cosmetics packaging waste mismanagement can only be tackled through an industry-wide approach focused on smarter packaging designs and new technologies that aid in achieving circularity, warn Pact Collective and Eastman. PersonalCareInsights speaks to representatives of these organizations to better understand how a functional circular economy for cosmetics packaging can be achieved.

“From an industry-wide standpoint, the first change needed is designing smarter packaging that is either refillable, reusable or can be processed by our national waste streams,” says Carly Snider, program director at Pact Collective.

“Additionally, we as an industry need to properly label our plastic packaging, specifically with the resin codes. These resin codes allow for customers and recyclers to do their job in finding the best way to process (hopefully recycle) the materials,” she underscores.

Moreover, approximately 1,500 metric tons of microplastics from personal care products are estimated to escape from wastewater treatment plants into aquatic environments annually, according to a UN Environment Programme report. 

Industrial circularity conversation
As a nonprofit organization aiming to end packaging waste in the beauty industry, Pact has collected over 108,000 pounds of hard-to-recycle industry waste since its launch in 2021.

“Circularity requires an industry-wide approach. To achieve it, we will need to move beyond our brand-centric view of sustainability and over to a brand-agnostic one to create a unified solution that operates using the same language and requirements,” Snider remarks.

Tara Cary, cosmetics packaging segment manager at Eastman, agrees and adds: “Each year, 300 million tons of plastic are produced globally. Yet only 16% of that plastic is collected for recycling and only 12% is actually recycled.”

According to Eastman, 300 million tons of plastic are produced globally each year, yet only 16% of that plastic is collected for recycling, and only 12% is actually recycled.She explains that Eastman’s goal is to target non-recycled materials and leverage molecular technologies to keep them in use by recycling them into new materials. “That means we’re moving from a linear economy (take, make, consume, waste) to a circular economy (make, use, reuse, remake, recycle).”

Recently, Eastman partnered with Pact to leverage molecular technologies to recycle beauty packaging that can’t be mechanically recycled and would otherwise end up in landfills or be incinerated.

Eastman has also been highlighted in LVMH’s recent Social and Environmental Responsibility Report for developing packaging using molecular recycling techniques for plastics. 

Are take-back schemes a real solution?
Several companies like MAC Cosmetics, Le Labo, Lush, Kiehl’s and Innisfree, run a take-back initiative to collect used products or materials from consumers and reintroduce them to the original processing and manufacturing cycle.

While the effectiveness of take-back schemes has been questioned due to the inaccessibility of waste sorting bins, Snider maintains that companies running their programs through collectives such as Pact are removing as many hard-to-recycle packages from the waste stream as possible.

“Collection programs can help combat [hard-to-recycle packaging problems] and inform future packaging design decisions so the industry can provide better solutions moving forward,” underlines Snider. 

“Pact has a clear-cut set of collection guidelines that focuses on hard-to-recycle packaging only. Makeup and perfume containers are Pact-accepted, as long as they are clean and empty.”

At the same time, she also makes it clear that recycling schemes will not change the industry’s packaging recycling problem in isolation. 

“We need to start designing for end-of-life by using the information gathered from our recyclers to source and design better packaging at the beginning of the supply chain (aka circularity),” she adds.

“Just because Pact can collect and recycle these materials doesn’t mean we should continue to design this way. Our goal is to move away from specialty programs like Pact and develop packaging that can be recycled curbside or can be reused.”

“Materials revolution”Snider insists improved circularity requires an industry-wide approach.
The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment launched by Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the UN Environment Programme has brought together 500 signatory governments and businesses to build a circular economy for plastics.

As a member, Eastman has pledged to eliminate problematic and unnecessary plastic items and innovate to ensure reusability, recyclability and composability.

“The global waste crisis and climate change are two of the greatest challenges of our time, and the world desperately needs a materials revolution to help address both. Brands face growing climate and environmental scrutiny from consumers, end users, NGOs, investors and other stakeholders, resulting in companies setting aggressive goals to include recycled content in products.

Eastman uses Life Cycle Assessments to measure the environmental performance of manufacturing processes, including chemical recycling.

The specialty materials company, working with brands like Herbal Essences, Laneige and onTop, employs carbon renewal technology and polyester renewal technology, which have a 20% to 50% improved carbon footprint in producing key building blocks used in Eastman Renew materials, according to the company.

“Our recycling technologies divert plastic waste from incinerators and landfills by using it as raw material, upcycling it into new high-performance products without compromising aesthetics or performance. This process can be repeated without any degradation of the end product, enabling true circularity,” says Cary.

Design for recyclability
For collectives such as Pact to recycle packaging mechanically, the waste material has to be clean and empty. Local material recovery facilities can be damaged and contaminated if the products are not clean.

“The majority of our industry’s packaging is currently too small, too flexible, or made of too many materials to be processed in our existing curbside programs,” Snider underpins. 

“If we continue producing packaging that cannot be curbside recycled but adding a chasing arrow symbol, we will continue to confuse the consumer and hinder the work of our local recycling facilities. Therefore, clear and consistent education from an industry-wide position is important to better the industry standard and drive toward circularity.”

By Radhika Sikaria