Segede director talks transparency in Digital Product Passport era

Transparency increasingly stands out as a key competitive differentiator in the beauty packaging industry. Packaging players are thus responding to environmental sustainability regulations and consumer expectations, highlights Claire Trescartes, Corporate Social Responsibility director at Segede. 

Packaging Insights speaks with the French company specializing in metal packaging and decorative components about the rise of traceable packaging, circular metals, and how brands can navigate ongoing regulatory developments, including the EU’s Digital Product Passport (DPP) mandate. 

Do you spot any major shifts in beauty packaging?

Trescartes: We are witnessing a paradigm shift in consumer expectations in Europe, but also in the US. Contrary to popular belief, the US market — particularly the West Coast — is strongly aligned with clean beauty and eco-conscious positioning.

Recent controversies around carcinogenic candles or questionable fragrance compositions have reinforced a key reality: today’s luxury client expects transparency. When paying for a premium product, consumers demand not only noble materials and refined storytelling, but full qualitative clarity.

With the upcoming EU DPP, brands will no longer be able to hide behind marketing narratives such as ‘Maison Parisienne’ if the entire packaging is manufactured in China. Consumers will scan a QR code and see the origin of every component. Transparency is the defining topic for brands that want to grow sustainably.

Segede supplies personal care brands with premium metal closures.From an industrial perspective, metals have a natural place in this transition. With the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) coming into force, plastics will inevitably decline. Metals are infinitely recyclable without loss of quality, premium by nature, and highly relevant in a low-carbon strategy. The role of suppliers must evolve. Suppliers can no longer remain in their ivory towers. They must become 360-degree partners.

At Segede, we have 70 years of archives and technical expertise. We have transformed our offer to share recurring design patterns that have shaped iconic brands, while integrating new sustainability and regulatory constraints. It is unacceptable to guide brands toward weighted packs or non-compliant pumps without warning them that such choices may soon be banned. Suppliers have a responsibility to guide brands technically, regulatorily, and ethically.

Do you see a tension between aesthetics, functionality, and environmental responsibility?

Trescartes: To be completely honest, the real issue is common sense. We all know plastic is not inherently ecological, yet the market has long chosen to ignore this for cost reasons, just as it chose large-scale offshoring.

Metals, on the other hand, are circular materials. They offer multiple aesthetic possibilities, premium finishes, and strong carbon performance. The real question is whether brands are ready to accept slightly lower margins in exchange for stronger long-term value: European production, durable materials, marketing credibility, and consumer trust. 

Another key tension lies in the technical knowledge gap. Many emerging or scaling brands have strong creative teams but lack deep industrial expertise. Few truly understand pressure die-casting, surface treatments, or the fact that certain aluminum alloys scratch unless properly coated, gold finishes can be achieved through more than ten different technical processes, and some complex shapes can be manufactured in France at costs comparable to China.

There is a communication gap between brands, designers, and industrial partners. This is why Segede is launching private technical workshops to explain backstage industrial realities to purchasing teams, marketing departments, and designers, such as new color trends, feasible shapes, regulatory constraints, and technological possibilities. Better knowledge leads to better design decisions.

How is technology reshaping the beauty packaging landscape?

Trescartes: Consumers increasingly seek experiential value in luxury, beauty, and even spirits.

We manufacture caps for Maison Francis Kurkdjian, which recently created an immersive exhibition at Palais de Tokyo using VR headsets to plunge visitors into its olfactory universe. This illustrates a larger movement: experiential and immersive storytelling.

Packaging is becoming a bridge between the physical object and digital experience.

The EU DPP will accelerate this evolution. QR codes will provide full traceability of each component. Brands will be able to communicate directly with their end customers, and suppliers will be able to highlight their craftsmanship and European production. The object itself will gain a new dimension.

If brands want to future-proof their packaging portfolios today, what should they prioritize?

Trescartes: Storytelling remains essential. Packaging crystallizes a brand’s identity.

However, storytelling must now rhyme with regulation. The upcoming PPWR regulation will be highly structured. Some distributors may even refuse to list brands that do not comply. Therefore, integrating regulatory foresight into design decisions is critical.

Brands should prioritize:

• Anticipation of regulatory constraints;
• Traceable and circular materials;
• Close collaboration with technically advanced suppliers.