China's cosmetic plastic packaging industry: never outdated!

The proportion of plastic in high-end cosmetic packaging materials has increased instead of decreased, because "modified plastics + precision molding + sustainable narrative" is turning bottles from cost centers to profit centers.

In the past ten years, when the industry mentioned "plastic", the keywords that popped into mind were "white pollution", "plastic restriction order" and "low-end surplus". The "2025-2030 Cosmetic Plastic Packaging Industry Competition Analysis and Development Prospect Forecast Report" gives a completely different conclusion:

· The market size of cosmetic plastic packaging has firmly stood on the "hundreds of billions" level, and will continue to maintain a growth rate "significantly higher than the sales volume of cosmetics" in the next five years;

· The proportion of plastic in high-end cosmetic packaging materials has increased instead of decreased, because "modified plastics + precision molding + sustainable narrative" is turning bottles from cost centers to profit centers;

· The premium that consumers are willing to pay for "replaceable, recyclable, and show-off" plastic packaging is on average higher than traditional glass packaging.

In a word: plastic packaging is upgrading from "a synonym for cheap" to "an emotional amplifier", "ESG pass" and "a password for social media traffic".

2. Zoom in: Six scenes that are sweeping the screen, explaining how plastic packaging can be "revitalized"

The author studied 13 industrial cities, 89 brands, 42 packaging material factories, and 16 industrial design companies, and condensed the observations into six "hot search-level" scenes.

1. Replaceable liner: Let big-name perfumes "only change the core but not the shell"

Chanel No. 5, YSL Libre Eau de Parfum, and Armani My Way have successively launched the "liner + shell" split design. The shell is high-gloss modified PMMA, and the liner is lightweight PP. Consumers only need to buy the liner after using the perfume, and the shell is permanently retained. It was found in Shanghai IFC that the repurchase cycle of replacing the liner is one-third shorter than that of buying a whole bottle. The shell was photographed by users and uploaded to social media, and the topic views easily exceeded 100 million.

2. Vacuum pump bottle "slimming technique": reduce the remaining amount of cream to zero

Vacuum pump bottles were once the domain of glass, but now they are "stolen" by PCTG, COC, and COP modified plastics. The new material is not only half as light, but also can create a "transparent glass feel". At Estee Lauder's Asia Pacific R&D Center, the new generation of vacuum pump bottles uses a "double-layer plastic + elastic base" structure, which can press the remaining cream to less than 0.5%, and is called "zero drop left" black technology by the brand. Consumers lamented that "no more scissors are needed to cut the bottle".

3. Transparent makeup "plastic shell": turn lipstick into a "crystal scepter"

YSL's "Little Gold Bar" lipstick makes the outer shell of the lipstick fully transparent PC, and the color of the cream is clear at a glance; the domestic brand Colorkey makes the high-gloss PP have a "ice-transparent glass" texture, and a lipstick is called a "crystal scepter" by fans. Monitoring found that the transparent plastic shell doubles the length of time the lipstick stays in the live broadcast room, and the conversion rate is 30% higher.

4. PCR plastic "tells stories": turning empty bottles into "environmental medals"

L'Oréal Group announced that all plastic packaging will contain more than half PCR (post-consumer recycled) materials in 2025. In the Suzhou factory, we saw that the PCR-PP raw materials come from discarded takeout boxes, which are then granulated and mixed with new materials for injection molding. The bottle body has its own "frosted cloud pattern", and each bottle has a unique "recycling birthmark". Consumers sunbathe empty bottles into environmental medals, and the brand has launched the "empty bottle recycling and points return" plan.

5. NFC chip "on the face": turning plastic packaging into a "digital key"

The "2025-2030 China Cosmetic Plastic Packaging Industry Competition Analysis and Development Prospects Forecast Report" mentioned that the plastic cap is embedded with an NFC chip, and the mobile phone can jump to the brand mini program with a touch to receive AR filters, game skins, and membership points. In Guangzhou Beauty Expo City, we saw that an essence used "plastic + chip" to replace the traditional paper anti-counterfeiting code, the scanning rate increased by two times, and the complaints of counterfeit goods dropped to the freezing point.

6. 3D printing "small batch": let plastic packaging enter "flexible quick response"

Traditional mold opening takes six to eight weeks, 3D printing plastic shells only take three days. New brands such as Hua Zhixiao, Kaleidoscope, and Fuqi use 3D printing to test holiday limited editions in small batches, and the shell patterns range from two-dimensional IP to city landmarks. According to calculations, small batches of plastic shells shorten inventory turnover by half, and the cost of trial and error of new products is reduced to one-tenth of the original.

3. Zoom out: "power transfer" happening in the industrial chain

In the "Value Map of the Cosmetic Plastic Packaging Industry Chain", we found that the profit pool is drifting from the "manufacturing end" to the "material end + design end + circulation end".

1. Upstream: Modified particles become "new oil"

High-transmittance PCTG, scratch-resistant PMMA, food-grade PCR-PP, bio-based PEF... Whoever holds the formula patent has the premium right. The transmittance of PCTG is close to that of imports, but the scratch resistance level is still one level lower, and the domestic substitution window period is only three to four years.

2. Midstream: Mold factories change from "selling iron" to "selling data"

Traditional mold factories charge by the number of cavities; new mold factories package "in-mold labeling + IML + laser engraving" into a "whole case" and divide the profits according to sales. The survey found that the life cycle value of a single mold in a mold factory with "digital twin" capabilities is three times that of a traditional mold.

3. Downstream: Brands "reverse define" plastics

International big brands write "carbon footprint" into KPIs, and new domestic brands write "plastic appearance" into Briefs. Packaging materials factories that cannot calculate carbon and tell stories are not even qualified to bid. It is judged that in the next five years, brands will use "plastic is content" as an entry ticket.

IV. On the eve of the 15th Five-Year Plan: A new story between local governments and production areas

In October 2024, a national-level beauty park in the Yangtze River Delta made a plan for upgrading plastic packaging during the 15th Five-Year Plan, and proposed the concept of "Beauty Plastic Valley":

1. Accurate positioning: Create a "small and beautiful" cluster around "modified particles-precision molds-digital printing"

Introduce three to five global modified plastic giants, two mold unicorns, and a digital printing leader to form a "Beauty Plastic Silicon Valley" worth tens of billions of yuan.

2. Financial empowerment: Revitalize small and medium-sized enterprises with the "Plastic Bank" model

The government took the lead in establishing a beauty plastic industry fund, packaging molds, particles, and carbon quotas into a "Plastic Bank" so that small and medium-sized brands can afford top-quality materials.

3. Open scenes: Create orders with the "city is a show" mindset

Open up all urban subways, airports, and art galleries into plastic packaging art installations, making packaging a public art, which not only solves the pain points of corporate orders, but also allows citizens to check in and spread.

5. How to bet on the dual-wheel drive of "high appearance + sustainability"?

The beauty plastic packaging track is divided into "three keys":

1. Early bet on "modified plastic + PCR localization"

The technical threshold is high and the patent barrier is deep. Once it is broken through, the valuation will be comparable to semiconductor materials.

2. Growth stage: bet on "vertical scene design studio"

In the three billion-level tracks of replaceable, recyclable and show-off, look for a team that can make "materials + structure + digital" into an overall solution.

3. Mature stage: bet on "circular asset operation platform"

When the penetration rate of PCR plastic exceeds half, plastic recycling operators similar to "Prologis" will appear. Around 2029, the first billion-level listed platform with beauty plastic recycling as its core business will be born.

6. Risk warning: Behind the carnival, three "reefs" must be prevented

1. Over-packaging supervision: The State Administration for Market Regulation has publicly solicited opinions on restricting excessive packaging of goods, and all investments must first calculate the "regulatory account".

2. Talent gap: There is a shortage of more than 60,000 compound talents who understand materials, structures, and can do digital extension.

3. Demand mismatch: Not all brands can afford high-end plastics. Using the "brand potential energy model" to calculate, brands with a potential energy below a certain level that rashly use high-priced plastics may backfire on the main brand.