Environmental protection and sustainability become the main theme of cosmetic packaging

A report by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) pointed out that the cosmetics industry generates more than 120 billion pieces of packaging waste each year, most of which end up in landfills or marine pollutants. Therefore, the green revolution of cosmetic packaging not only reflects a sense of responsibility for the environment, but also a responsibility to consumers and society.

By adopting recyclable and degradable materials and promoting recycling and recovery strategies, cosmetics brands can reduce their dependence on natural resources, reduce carbon footprints, and enhance brand image and market competitiveness.

In 2020, L'Oréal launched the "For the Future" project, stating that by 2025, its goal is to make 100% of plastic packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable, and to fully adopt recycled/bio-based plastics by 2030. (The current mid-term goal by 2025 is 50%).

According to its recently released 2024 annual report, a total of 306,000 tons of primary and secondary packaging of products and technologies & biomaterials were consumed during the reporting period. In terms of material use, 26% are recycled materials (about 78,000 tons), and 37% of plastic packaging comes from recycled/biobased raw materials; in terms of recycling progress, 53% of packaging is recyclable, 49% meets sustainable standards (recyclable/compostable/reusable), and packaging is reduced by 11%.

At present, sustainable packaging has become the mainstream of the industry, and brands are showing their talents. This trend is mainly reflected in three aspects:

First, material innovation. For example, Unilever's care brand "Love Beauty and Planet" series uses 100% recycled PET bottles. The labels on this series of bottles are also attached with special adhesives. They can be cleanly separated from the bottle during the recycling process, which can facilitate the reuse of the bottles and protect the original PET resources; the international brand Lush promotes the concept of "naked packaging" (such as shampoo and soap products), reducing the use of packaging by 40%, which greatly attracts consumers with strong environmental awareness.

The second is circular design. For example, P&G's "Air" series of shampoo bottles reduces the amount of plastic by 50%, greatly saving resources; Alibaba Cainiao Network launched a "zero plastic" environmentally friendly express box to replace traditional cartons. After the buyer signs for it, the box will be collected and reused to reduce resource waste.

The third is business model innovation. Watsons piloted "green stores" in Hong Kong to provide packaging recycling services, and reached cooperation with many big brands such as P&G and L'Oreal. During the planned trial operation from April to May 2022, L'Oreal Hong Kong and Watsons collected more than 6,300 beauty product containers and successfully diverted them from landfills. The plan solves the downstream circulation problem of beauty product packaging, which becomes a resource through recycling and reuse.

According to a McKinsey survey, 60% of consumers are willing to pay 10% more for sustainable packaging. The above measures not only respond to the improvement of consumers' environmental awareness, but also conform to global policy orientations, such as the EU "Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation" (PPWR) requires all packaging to be recyclable by 2030, which is an important trend in future packaging.

As an international event that brings together the innovative forces of the global packaging industry and leads the trend, the 2025iPDF International Future Packaging Exhibition has carefully planned five forums, and will invite leading companies in the industry to share cases and directly address the pain points and opportunities of beauty packaging.

Among them, the "Material Revolution·Unlimited Creativity" forum will focus on cutting-edge technologies such as bio-based materials and degradable packaging, and explore how to achieve a perfect balance between environmental protection and aesthetics through material innovation; "Green Future·ESG Sustainability" will bring together sustainable development experts and industry leaders to deeply analyze the implementation of ESG strategies in the packaging field, and reveal how to build a green closed loop from raw material procurement to terminal recycling. For brands, this is not only a window to understand cutting-edge technologies, but also a key platform for finding sustainable packaging solutions.

As an industry expert said, "Sustainable packaging is not a cost center, but a new value growth pole." In the next three years, whether a complete packaging recycling ecosystem can be built will become a key factor in determining whether a brand can win in the ESG era.