The Recyclist project: Nivea pilots 100 percent recycled PE cosmetic bottles

13 Jan 2020 --- German multinational Beiersdorf, specializing in skin care products, has developed cosmetic bottles made of 100 percent recycled polyethylene (PE) for its Nivea brand. The launch is part of the company’s Recyclist project and the result of a collaboration between the Fraunhofer IVV, Fraunhofer IWKS, and Pla.to. Fraunhofer IVV developed a “comprehensive recycling concept” for Beiersdorf with the aim of reusing high-quality PE recyclates to produce packaging for toiletries and cosmetic products.

Anti-plastics sentiment is so wide that governments around the world are making moves to tackle the issue. A host of countries have closed the door to plastic waste imports and the prominence of plastics in marine environments continues to be spotlighted. In a move hoped to battle marine litter, the European Parliament voted in April 2019 to ban the ten single-use plastic items most commonly found on European beaches – and which make up 70 percent of all marine litter – by 2021. The ban also includes abandoned fishing gear and oxo-degradable plastics – materials that contribute to microplastic pollution. 

The Recyclist project
Every year, Beiersdorf uses more than 750 million PE bottles as packaging material for its skin care products, which corresponds to a material usage of approximately 16,000 tons. Until now, cosmetic bottles made of PE generally end up as low-quality recyclates (downcycling) or used as a substitute fuel. 

Recognizing the need for a more sustainable system, Beiersdorf launched the Recyclist project in 2018.Recognizing the need for a more sustainable system, Beiersdorf launched the Recyclist project in 2018. The company’s Global Packaging R&D department launched an internal recycling initiative that sought to test the idea of a circular economy for plastic packaging. Around 2,600 product bottles that had been used by employees at home were brought back to collection boxes in the company headquarters in Hamburg, Germany and German production sites to be used to produce new bottles made from 100 percent recycled PE. A significant number (2,500) of shower gel bottles could be produced from the material. They were distributed to the employees as part of a campaign afterwards.Recyclist was, therefore, a successful initiative that was well received by the employees and provided useful insights for future projects. This year, Beiersdorf, being committed to the “avoid, reduce, reuse, recycle” motto, started its Recyclist pilot project somewhat earlier. 

Recovering type-pure PE recyclates
To pave the way for the collected bottles to be turned into as type-pure PE recyclate as possible, a number of preliminary trials were undertaken. For example, a suitable shredding technology for the subsequent sorting of the ground product and evaluated washing processes to remove product residues and labels needed to be identified. The shredding, washing and label removal were carried on a technical scale at Pla.to. The optical sorting of the ground product into High-density polyethylene (HDPE) was carried out at the Fraunhofer IWKS, while the PE compounding was performed at the Fraunhofer IVV.

The Recyclist pilot project enabled Beiersdorf to demonstrate the viability of a circular economy for its PE cosmetic bottles and also the manufacture of sustainable packaging from PE recyclates under real conditions. With the goal of moving towards a circular economy, Beiersdorf is striving to raise the recyclate fraction of Beiersdorf plastic packaging in Europe to 25 percent by 2025. Simultaneously, only packaging materials that are 100 recyclable, compostable, or reusable will be used.

Edited by Kristiana Lalou