Beiersdorf is making good on its promise to convert to refillable, reuseable or recycled packaging. The maker of Nivea and La Prairie is teaming up with Sabic to create renewable plastics for mass-market cosmetics packaging. The packaging will will work together to create sustainable packaging made of certified, renewable polypropylene (or PP) from Sabic’s Trucircle portfolio. To make the PP, plant-based, renewable raw materials will be used. The first products with packaging made almost wholly of certified PP from renewable raw materials will be launched in 2021.
“With this action, Beiersdorf intends to further reduce the use of fossil-based resources for plastic packaging,” the company said in a statement. Beiersdorf is one of the world’s biggest beauty companies and is ranked No. 7 in the latest edition of Happi’s The International Top 30.
This sustainable plastic is a byproduct of the paper industry, produced during the processing of trees into pulp. According to Beiersdorf, the byproduct replaces the same amount of fossil crude oil generally needed for the manufacturing of plastic. The company maintains that PP packaging is friendlier for the environment, as it causes less carbon dioxide emissions than traditional plastics.
“The reduction of fossil raw materials in our portfolio is of essential importance to us,” said Michael Becker, head of global packaging development at Beiersdorf, in the statement. “The use of renewable raw materials in our product packaging represents a major lever for us to reduce our carbon emissions and improve our ecological footprint. We are proud to be the first in our mass-market segment supporting the use of PP made from renewable, plant-based raw materials as packaging materials for our cosmetic products.”
This announcement is part of Beiersdorf’s overall plan to have, by 2025, 100% refillable, reusable or recycled packaging; grow its share of recycled material in plastic packaging to 30% and reduce the use of fossil-based virgin plastic by 50% based against 2019 content levels.