From June, Beiersdorf will launch Nivea facial care products in sustainable packaging made from renewable polypropylene from the Sabic Trucircle portfolio.
It was only at the end of last year that Beiersdorf announced its cooperation with the global company Sabic. The aim of the collaboration: to develop more sustainable cosmetics packaging from the certified, renewable polypropylene (PP) from the Sabic Trucircle portfolio that replaces petroleum-based virgin plastic. From June, the face care products in the Nivea Natural Balance range will be on the shelves in almost 30 countries around the world in the innovative, more environmentally friendly packaging.
„We are proud to be a pioneer in our industry in the field of renewable plastic packaging. The ambitious goals that we have set ourselves with our sustainability agenda Care Beyond Skin are being realised step by step with a great deal of commitment and hard work.“ Jean-François Pascal, Vice President Corporate Sustainability at Beiersdorf.
High demands on the material
Beiersdorf has set itself the goal, 50 per cent less petroleum-based virgin plastic by 2025 All packaging should also be reusable, refillable or recyclable. Another important criterion in the choice of raw material and supplier was that the so-called „feedstock concept“ is based on a second-generation source material.
That was with Tall oil given. Producing packaging from sugar cane or maize and thus utilising a food source was out of the question.
„The certified, renewable plastic that we source from Sabic has no visual abnormalities or other unfavourable properties. As a result, the jar made from renewable PP is neither visually nor haptically distinguishable from the previous packaging. Sabic also pursues a holistic approach to sustainability with its feedstock concept. That convinced us.“ Hannah Rasel, Senior Packaging Specialist at Beiersdorf.
Sustainable choice of suppliers
Beiersdorf is also responsible for the new packaging concept. New ways in purchasing As Isabel Hochgesand, Chief Procurement Officer at Beiersdorf, explains: „We are now getting involved much earlier and deeper in the supply chain and building new supplier relationships there. Becoming more sustainable as a manufacturer also means driving the development of new materials along the value chain. We are going beyond previous supplier relationships and bringing upstream suppliers together with our tier 1 suppliers.“
In fact, Beiersdorf had identified Sabic itself and then brought it to the table to work with the long-standing suppliers of Berry Global facial care jars the switch to more sustainable packaging. Beiersdorf considers this approach to be a decisive factor in the fact that the project could be realised from idea to implementation in just nine months.
Principle of mass balancing
The new, more sustainable packaging made from renewable polypropylene is based on the principle of mass balancing in accordance with the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC PLUS) Scheme. The raw material basis for the renewable plastic is certified, renewable tall oil, a second-generation feedstock and by-product of forestry. It replaces crude oil and is seamlessly integrated into the manufacturing process according to the principle of mass balancing - without the need to set up a separate production cycle.
New Nivea packaging enables climate neutralisation
Converting packaging to renewable polypropylene not only has the advantage of conserving fossil resources, but also of reducing CO2-emissions. For each jar produced, approx. 76 g of CO2e saved, a Reduction of around 60 per cent compared to the original product. The project therefore also contributes to the company's climate target of achieving a 30 per cent absolute reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across the entire value chain (Scope 1-3) by 2025.
Residual emissions that cannot be avoided or reduced during the manufacture of the product are minimised in the jars. offset with the help of reforestation projects, i.e. climate-neutralised. This is new for Beiersdorf and its largest skincare brand. The eight-product facial care range will be clearly labelled as „climate neutral“ on the shelves.
Source: Beiersdorf
