Refillable lipstick: Aptar and Quadpack develop wood solution for waste prevention
16 Jun 2022 --- Aptar Beauty + Home and Quadpack have teamed up on a refillable lipstick solution. The mechanism is contained in a custom-designed monomaterial casing made entirely of certified ash wood from sustainably-managed forests.
The solution combines Aptar’s expertise in mechanisms for prestige lipsticks with Quadpack’s know-how in high-end wood solutions. The solution incorporates Aptar’s Iconic mechanism for a smooth and precise rotation over time.
“The Iconic Woodacity Lipstick has a combination of [environmentally] sustainable features, requiring no separate insert to affix to the base,” Denisa Stircea, senior category specialist at Quadpack, tells PackagingInsights.
“Being refillable, consumers can use a single casing for various lipsticks. The mechanism and the casing are made in factories where production waste is largely either recycled or used for fuel. Quadpack’s wood factory uses the waste to fuel its heating, air-conditioning and wood drying ovens.”
The lipstick is easily refillable: consumers simply pull out the used mechanism and snap in the new one. They can also keep various colors and insert the one they want to use, further reducing the pack’s environmental impact.
According to Innova Market Insights, 53% of global consumers say they think reusable packaging is an environmentally sustainable packaging model, trumping recyclable (52%), biodegradable (33%) and ahead of compostable (24%).
The use of wood is intended to elicit impressions of “natural beauty.”
The natural look
Wood gives the pack a sensory dimension while also adding a feeling of “natural beauty,” boosting consumer engagement. The casing opens and closes with a “new, yet intuitive gesture.”
“By creating a casing that is 100% wood to fit a prestige lipstick mechanism, we are showing how this natural material lends itself well to luxury color cosmetics,” adds Stircea.
Meanwhile, the patented “Solo Twist” system features an oval-shaped interior, ensuring the cap auto-locks on a quarter turn. The twist gesture is a departure from standard click closures.
The Iconic Woodacity Lipstick is reliable and compatible with most filling lines without any adjustments. POM-free, glue-free and lubricant-free, the mechanism allows “perfectly smooth” actuation of the bullet.
Made in Europe
The entire pack is made in Europe. Aptar manufactures the mechanism in Chavanod, France (formerly Aptar Reboul). Aptar Chavanod uses renewable energy, while 95% of production waste is reused or recycled.
The wooden container – with PEFC or FSC certification on demand – is made at Quadpack’s wood factory in Catalonia, Spain, where a biomass plant converts production waste into energy.
The Iconic Woodacity Lipstick will be commercially available from both Aptar and Quadpack.
By Joshua Poole
