Waste minimisation and sustainability are two of the issues that are preoccupying the packaging industry and driving change. Kuraray uses innovative polymers for the packaging of personal care and cosmetic products.
Major companies in the cosmetics and personal care industry have already published voluntary commitments for more sustainable packaging, including Beiersdorf, Colgate-Palmolive, Estée Lauder, L'Oréal, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. In spring 2024, the EU Parliament and Council also agreed on the „Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation“ (PPWR) was agreed. The PPWR will apply throughout the EU. It will Reduce resource consumption and packaging waste and promote the circular economy.
Innovative packaging for body care and cosmetics
In order to package shower gels, body creams or lotions and bring them to the consumer, multi-layer tubular packaging is often still common, in which aluminium foil is also used. However, the aluminium content alone makes mechanical recycling impossible. In addition, aluminium extraction itself is extremely energy-intensive. Multilayer plastic packaging would be an alternative. But they are often thicker. This means using more material instead of avoiding plastic. Multi-material plastic packaging is also often not recyclable. Personal care products therefore need packaging concepts that:
- do without aluminium foil
- Reduce the thickness of the plastic layers used
- can be easily disposed of, composted or recycled.
The following four packaging ideas combine sustainability and functionality. They not only protect the contents from foreign odours and moisture - the cleverly designed (multilayer) polymer packaging is also recyclable.
Shower gel refill pack
MonoSol is a water-soluble, biodegradable film made from polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) from Curaray. This shower gel packaging made from odourless and transparent MonoSol monomaterial can be used for both the Reduce material usage and transport costs. Because shower gels usually contain 85 per cent water, refill concepts with shower gel concentrates are particularly environmentally friendly. With a water content of less than 10 per cent in the concentrate, these MonoSol capsules save weight and transport costs. And later, the MonoSol refill packaging dissolves completely in the shower water.
Plastic tube
Eval is the brand name of the ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymers (EVOH) that Kuraray produces. Even a thin layer of Eval forms a very Reliable taste and odour barrier. The middle of the three layers is a barrier layer made of Eval-EVOH and machine-direction orientated polyethylene (MDOPE). The outer, thicker layer of pure MDOPE gives the tube mechanical stability. The inner layer is made of simple polyethylene due to its heat-sealability. This packaging can be regarded as mono-material packaging due to the low Eval-EVOH content of less than 5 per cent.
Compostable shower gel tube
Everything in this shower gel tube concept is compostable: the bio-plastic Plantic, which is made from starch, the other biopolymers that act as a moisture barrier and heat-sealing layer, and the adhesive that connects the layers. Plantic dissolves in water, is Biodegradable and compostable (industrial and household). Plantic is used as a very good flavour and gas barrier in this packaging concept.
Repulpable shower gel tube
This shower gel tube concept uses an outer layer of paper. The flavour and gas barrier is formed by an internally laminated layer made of the biopolymer Plantic. Additional inner layers - made of other bioplastics or polyethylene (PE), for example - serve as a moisture barrier to the shower gel and as a heat-sealing layer in this concept. In the repulping process, thanks to the water-soluble Plantic, the inner barrier and sealing layers as well as the adhesive can be easily separated from the paper. Thanks to Plantic, the repulping yield is also higher than with a conventional PE layer applied directly to the paper, for example.
Regulators and brand manufacturers agree on the fundamental objective. It is about protecting and preserving the contents and avoiding waste. Today, both can be achieved through the clever use of innovative polymers: Functionality and sustainability.
http://www.packaging.kuraray.eu
Kuraray at Fachpack: Hall 3, Stand 605
Author: Dr Bettina Plaumann, Kuraray Europe, Paper & Packaging Segment Team
