Skin care packaging aiming to be beautifully sustainable

6 Jan 2022 --- Near the end of last year, the leading South Korean beauty and cosmetics brand Amorepacific paired with the global specialty materials provider Eastman to implement sustainable packaging solutions into its beauty business via the use of molecular recycling technologies. Under the deal, Amorepacific’s cosmetics brand Laneige will use packaging made from Eastman’s Cristal Renew copolyester.

The certified recycled content in the packaging is achieved by allocating waste plastic to copolyesters using a mass balance process approved by International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC). Laneige's Water Sleeping Mask will be the first product to feature Eastman’s Cristal Renew. Amorepacific has also applied technological advances in skin care and in its packaging to its new water sleeping mask, incorporating a probiotics-derived complex to fortify skin's moisture barrier that is designed to boost clarity.

Click to EnlargeThe partnership was annouced in November. Source: Amorepacific/Eastern.Through the use of molecular recycling technologies, Tara Cary, Market Development Manager for Specialty Plastics for Cosmetics Packaging at Eastman, says: “We can provide an infinite lifespan, a truly circular solution, for waste materials that were previously destined to end up in landfills, incinerators or waterways.” 

The company can treat materials that cannot be recycled using today’s methods, breaking down waste into its molecular building blocks and rebuilding it into new materials. Eastman says that the new materials are comparable to traditional materials in clarity, luster and mechanical properties. Along with diverting plastic waste from landfills, incinerators and the environment, Eastman details that its molecular recycling process lowers the use of fossil resources and results in 20-50% lower greenhouse gas emissions than traditional manufacturing.

Eastman has recently conducted research focused on consumers’ sustainability preferences in skin care purchases. Commenting on what its findings show, Cary details: “The data tells us that packaging is key to how consumers evaluate the sustainability of skin care products.” 

From its research, Eastman reports that consumers consider recycled content an essential component of sustainable packaging, but that aesthetics remain important. The company found that while 25% of those asked are likely to choose a product with recycled content, regardless of aesthetics, that number increased to 75% when the clarity and quality are comparable to a virgin jar.

Click to EnlargeLaneige will use the technology for its water sleeping mask. Source: Laneige.Consumers are searching for realistic options to make sustainable choices. In doing so, they are looking to brands to provide solutions. “The beauty industry is leading the charge with ambitious sustainability targets, starting as early as 2023,” Cary expresses. “By choosing products made via molecular recycling, consumers can know that they are making a choice that helps reduce the plastic waste crisis today.”

As Amorepacific needed recycled-content packaging that would live up to their signature beauty aesthetic, Eastman says its molecular recycling technologies enabled the beauty company to create packaging without compromise. 

Using its Cristal Renew range, Eastman strives to produce “brilliant, crystal clear packaging that enhances their products and customer experience,” Cary notes, adding: “With their ambitious sustainability commitments, Amorepacific and Eastman were a natural fit.” 

Jung Changwook, Senior Vice President of Amorepacific’s development and purchasing division adds: “Cristal Renew and Eastman's innovative molecular recycling technologies will play a crucial role in helping us achieve the commitments laid out in our '2030 A MORE Beautiful Promise', without sacrificing the premier beauty experience customers expect from Amorepacific.”

Continuing to work together on new projects, the duo hopes to demonstrate what the sustainable future of beauty packaging can look like today. “We believe that beauty and responsibility are not mutually exclusive,” highlights Cary. The companies aim to create signature packaging using the latest technology to help divert and reduce landfill waste.

By Natasha Spencer-Jolliffe, BPC Insights Senior Journalist