As the climate crisis hots up, one of the most lasting trends for personal care and beauty brands centres around doing more with less. This requirement is translating into the need to develop sustainable packaging in line with the new obligations described in The EU Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy, which sets out ambitious targets for the collection and recycling of plastic materials.
This vision entails that by 2030, all packaging materials must be reusable or recyclable. The report also stresses that by that date, 50% of all plastic waste in Europe must be recycled while the EU’s sorting and recycling capacity quadrupled, compared to 20151. To comply with these requirements requires vision, chemical ingenuity, and a future intelligence that will ensure that companies stay on the right side of the green agenda!
At Oleon, we believe in these aspirations, but also know that it requires a collective effort and that all stakeholders, ingredient suppliers and brand owners have a role to play in reducing and tackling plastic - from how it is produced, used by customers, and disposed after use.
Make the right choice
The first step when selecting sustainable packaging is to choose a solution that can reduce the carbon footprint of the product for both the customer and producer. But this is just one side of the coin. The other ties in with consumer expectations around simplified beauty regimes including circular beauty packaging solutions that offer the longest possible packaging life. This means looking at innovations such as refillable packaging designs.
This type of packaging and product design can assist in reducing consumption as brands turn towards solutions that help to limit the impact on the planet by incorporating smart design or sound and workable sustainability protocols. The aim is to reduce, reuse and recycle by considering the key principals of the circular economy.
At Oleon,100% of the packaging we use for our finished products is recyclable and 30% is made from recycled materials. In addition, we also pay attention to reducing the wall thickness of our drums while promoting more sustainable alternatives by increasing the percentage of recycled materials used during manufacture. It is our ultimate goal to reduce the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions linked to our packaging use by at least 25% by 2026.
This is one of the reasons we make use of 100% Post Industrial Recycled (PIR) materials for our packs. PIR material is composed of leftovers from the production process of plastic containers, for example, when plastic is blown into bottles or when scrap or pinch-offs are left behind. These items are saved, repelletised and reused. At Oleon, PIR is molded to form new packs including our 1 and 5-litre.
The market for post-industrial resin in product packaging is growing on the back of advancements in recycling processes and the use of clean and acceptable sources in packaging. But PIR has other benefits too by sending less plastic waste to landfill and decreasing the energy required to produce packaging materials. PIR also offers full compliance to demanding regulations, making these products a perfect fit for personal care, household, chemical and industrial products.
In keeping with our sustainability initiatives, all our bottle labels are white, featuring matt synthetic inkjet labels that comply with the BS5609 requirements for GHS chemical labels. These labels are crafted from the same material as our bottles, and this means that packaging can be sorted and recycled easily post use.
At Oleon, we are committed to green chemistry and broadening its scope across all our business divisions - from the strong involvement of our stakeholders to continually improving our impact on the environment, the wellbeing of our people and the planet.
For more information on how our sustainably packaged products can assist you, please contact our sales team now at healthandbeauty@oleon.com
