Beauty Experts Assess the Future of Sustainable Packaging

The road to net-zero is filled with twists and turns and, over the last decade especially, has become ever-more circuitous for the beauty industry. As the market moves forward at such a rapid pace, it takes on radical efforts and changes in adapting both formulation and packaging to satisfy environmentally sound goals, governmental regulations, and consumer support.

According to Statista, the value of the cosmetics market worldwide is expected to reach $758.4 billion by 2025.

As to the Cosmetic Packaging Market, in particular, a report by Verified Market Research, valued the market at $34.98 billion in 2020 and projected it would reach $53.78 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 5.76% from 2021 to 2028.

Brands and suppliers are not the only parties that have a lot to gain with a turnover to sustainable packaging. Nobody can overlook the effect on the Earth and the economy, and the consumer sentiment that lies behind the movement.

Cutting back on solid waste such as single-use plastics has become a governmental financial necessity. According to the United Nations Environment Assembly, “municipal solid waste generation is predicted to grow from 2.3 billion tons in 2023 to 3.8 billion tons by 2050.

In 2020, the global direct cost of waste management was an estimated $252 billion. When factoring in the hidden costs of pollution, poor health and climate change from poor waste disposal practices, the cost rises to $361 billion. Without urgent action on waste management, by 2050 this global annual cost could almost double to a staggering $640.3 billion.”

Response from the cosmetics industry has been swift as innovative suppliers and brands have invested in increased R&D and taken great strides to “sustainable-ize” in just the past few years.

Commenting on the rapid evolution of the industry, Marc Rosen, President, Marc Rosen Associates, tells Beauty Packaging, “The most significant development [in the past few years] has been the remarkable commitment by both the beauty companies and the packaging suppliers to market and create sustainable packaging.”

Further, Rosen says, “It is a credit to the industry that given significant cost increases and the time and effort required to educate their sales forces and consultants, companies are steadfast in their resolve.” (Read more of Rosen’s thoughts on the present and future challenges later in this article.)

Along with Rosen, we asked a number of other prominent Beauty industry executives—from Estée Lauder to Credo, Ulta to L’Oreal, Summer Fridays to Paume, The Honest Company to Euromonitor—about sustainable packaging’s recent challenges—and presumable future.

1. In your opinion, what has been the most significant development in sustainable packaging within the past two years? 

2. Looking head, what do you think will be the greatest challenges for cosmetic packaging? The greatest opportunities?

In 2022, beauty and personal care saw a 40% y-o-y increase in SKUs with sustainable packaging, propelled by consumer demands and regulatory pressures. Innovations included material reduction, plant-based alternatives, refillable options, and partnerships for chemically recycled plastics such as Dow and LVMH’s.

Despite 2023’s economic slowdown impacting growth, 68% of industry professionals emphasize sustainable packaging’s role in combating climate change, with more than half of packaging experts reporting their firms are either pursuing or have already adopted net-zero strategies. This reflects a shift towards packaging that supports the climate agenda, with net-zero targets driving the next wave of sustainable packaging innovation, making solutions more circular and less dependent on fossil fuels.

The cosmetics industry faces a unique challenge in balancing sustainability, cost, and consumer expectations. AI offers groundbreaking potential to revolutionize sustainable packaging by analyzing vast data on materials, costs, availability, consumer preferences, and regulatory requirements. This could lead to tailor-made sustainable packaging solutions that are both cost-effective and compliant, significantly impacting sustainability and innovation in the sector.

Developing a refill package that seamlessly blends functionality, luxury, sustainability and is commercially successful is a challenging task. Yet, over the last two years, the industry, particularly in prestige and luxury, is witnessing a surge in refill, showcasing the potential of innovative designs, operational shifts, supplier/brand partnerships, and a collective drive to enhance sustainability through refills. The advancement of refills comes with a great opportunity to listen to consumers, learn from them and equip them with information that helps them understand the sustainability impact of their purchases. By doing so we can continue to raise the bar for responsible packaging practices and move forward our commitment to meeting the dynamic demands of the industry stakeholders.

Understanding and compliance with the fast-moving regulatory landscape represents one of the greatest challenges and opportunities for cosmetic packaging. Adapting to evolving regulations requires monitoring and innovations in packaging materials, design, while maintaining product safety and integrity. Successful brands will need to navigate both this dynamic landscape and consumer preferences adeptly to remain relevant.

Expanding the use of ‘Post-Consumer Recycled’ (PCR) materials and ‘lightweighting’ are key aspects of our packaging development. Our strategy involves using a mix of no plastic, less plastic, or better plastic (via PCR) wherever possible. L’Oréal has taken every opportunity to iterate new generations for our products that consider sustainable design improvements. Our top priority has been making packaging innovations a reality, with every brand in our portfolio having a roadmap to either reduce, reuse, eliminate or make use of recycled materials. All with the target of moving away from virgin plastic. 

Insufficient U.S. recycling infrastructure is a challenge in accelerating circularity for cosmetic packaging. Millions of people lack access to recycling and our current recycling systems do not support small-format and flexibles, even if designed for recyclability. We aim to improve this by enhancing access to, and capabilities of, municipal systems by supporting extended producer responsibility laws and related policies.

At Ulta Beauty, we believe a more sustainable future in beauty hinges on collaboration, innovation, and consumer engagement. Pact Collective, a non-profit fostering industry-wide collaboration to combat the packaging problem at hand, stands out as one of the most influential change-makers propelling a more sustainable future in beauty. With collection bins conveniently located at multiple retailers, including nationwide at 1,350+ Ulta Beauty stores, Pact both educates beauty enthusiasts and provides them with a seamless solution to properly dispose of hard-to-recycle beauty empties. This level of collaboration is yet to be widely adopted in other industries, underscoring Pact’s impact and significance in the sustainability space. 

Some of the greatest challenges in beauty packaging involve bridging recycling gaps for small formats and scaling up initiatives like Pact, while educating consumers and creating engaging solutions to encourage participation. While there is still much work to be done, continued collaboration holds promise for advancing scalable beauty solutions.

My take on this has a common thread of accessibility—both physical and digital. From a package development perspective, over the past two years I have seen advancements in the clarity, quality, and availability of PCR.

Regarding the digital aspect, I am seeing more technology that enables brands to make more informed decisions around the environmental impact of their packaging. Whether it’s the ability to educate their customers on how to properly recycle their products, or to conduct streamlined Life Cycle Assessments—allowing even smaller companies with limited budgets access to software that was traditionally very expensive, time-consuming and cumbersome.

I think the heritage luxury brands will have the greatest challenges as it relates to cosmetic packaging. Typically, design codes for high-end brands often include mixed materials, non-sustainable coatings, metallization, weights, magnets and many other elements and fashion parts that support that luxury appeal (and command the price point), however at this moment, the only solution I see when considering the 3 Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) would be to design packaging to be refillable.

Do consumers really want refills for certain formats? I see the practicality for personal care commodity items that are used frequently and in large amounts (i.e., hand soap, shampoo, mouthwash, deodorant), but does a consumer want to spend the money on a pouch to have backstock refill her serum? Are consumers that brand loyal?

From a brand perspective, if you’re considering color cosmetics, now your SKU count just doubled. That can create headaches for inventory, forecasting and even space in store.

While there is an opportunity on the supplier side to continue to develop better materials and more environmentally friendly processes, lightweighted designs as well as more eco-friendly coating and deco options, the biggest opportunity that exists is working towards harmonizing at the very least the recycling system in the U.S., and for companies to come together to work on industry-specific solutions.

I think EPR fees will help light the fire, but there is still more work to be done. Pact Collective is really leading the charge in this space; exemplified by their collection bins, access to education, and holding suppliers accountable. I envision a future where competitors (all facing similar challenges) can come together to create out-of-the-box solutions that can have a major impact on our industry and our planet.

The most significant development in sustainable packaging over the past two years is the use of gable-top cartons for low-viscosity personal care product refills like hand soap, body wash and shampoo. This approach addresses challenges in marketing, value pricing, user experience, and recyclability faced by refill models in the beauty and personal care industry. While gable-top technology is not new (think food and beverage), it offers solutions to many refill issues, including easier pouring, wide recyclability (according to H2R), significant plastic reduction (up to 80% compared to new units), ample space for marketing, and rapid filling and packing capabilities.

Looking ahead, complying with fluid EPR state regulations will be a major challenge for cosmetic packaging. These regulations may treat complex cosmetic packaging similarly to simpler packaging like 2-piece water bottles, requiring minimum levels of PCR and recyclability. The greatest opportunity for us lies in focusing on reducing packaging.

We now see real, time-bound corporate commitments on sustainable packaging. At Credo Beauty, we published our store-wide commitments, as part of the Sustainable Packaging Guidelines, in 2020.

We achieved our 2021 goals to eliminate single-use products from our assortment and prohibit key toxic ingredients (like PFAS) from intentional use in packaging. Our 2024 goal is for any petroleum-based plastic packaging to contain at least 50% PCR. We’ve also required clear recycling instructions on pack and online, removing the guesswork for customers.

Above all, we co-founded Pact, to unite the industry to take responsibility for our packaging waste and work collaboratively toward packaging circularity. There are now 150 members of Pact.

Achieving optimal packaging circularity, where discarded beauty packaging makes it back into new packaging, will be the greatest challenge and greatest opportunity. More participation in Pact, which generates increased packaging collection and spurs packaging design innovation, is a critical path towards achieving this. 

More and more mass brands are offering refillable products and using PCR, which is exciting to see. It may seem like small steps, but on a mass scale, it can have a big impact on minimizing waste and footprint in the beauty industry.

Lack of transparency and efficiency around recyclability is a challenge for brands. Improving how we recycle plastic materials, and relying less on virgin resins, creates a more circular supply chain. One area of opportunity is developing viable and stable biodegradable plastic alternatives that offer the same customization and design possibilities.

In terms of relevance to categories I have supported, the most significant development in sustainable packaging is the engineering and early scale-up of APR-recognized recyclable pumps. Like any change, there will be an adoption period, but the hope is that these types of pumps will become more mainstream and standardized in the future to allow for the recovery of these materials (along with the container it sits atop) in curbside.

I think one of the biggest challenges/opportunities will be how to work within the current recycling infrastructure limitations (smaller packaging sizes and types of materials collected) and being able to influence designs to accommodate, as well as other innovative means of reclaiming these materials. This will require industry collaboration.

The enactment of multiple new state laws related to packaging extended producer responsibility (EPR), recyclable and compostable claims and labeling, recycled content mandates and chemicals in packaging. We are in a new era of government policy and oversight in the U.S. related to packaging, pushing companies to think even further about their current and future goals for sustainable packaging and explore new ways to innovate in response to these laws.

Understanding how to be compliant with all the new state packaging laws and regulations that arguably will place a greater emphasis and strain on many cosmetic packaging formats and materials that have traditionally been considered harder to recover or recycle. But that creates opportunities also to innovate and step ahead of the competition.

The use of alternative materials and molded packaging solutions, made from natural and renewable resources. This is being driven by brand owners seeking to reduce their exposure to fossil-based materials and start-ups scaling up manufacturing.

Paper-based packaging is well established, but its typically rigid nature means it is not a solution for all applications. Enter the use of alternative materials made from mycelium (mushroom proteins), agri-waste (such as wheat and sugar cane bagasse) and molded pulp. Developments in packaging machinery and manufacturing processes are complementing material developments from the likes of Sulapac, Traceless, Pulpac, et al.

The greatest challenge for cosmetic brand owners will be finding packaging solutions that have low environmental impact while maintaining the essential functional properties that have been optimized using hard-to-recycle plastics in the past. This challenge is also a great opportunity for brands that can demonstrate that their products (and packaging) have a great environmental back story to reassure consumers that they are ‘doing the right thing’.
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The most significant development has been the remarkable commitment by both the beauty companies and the packaging suppliers to market and create sustainable packaging. It is a credit to the industry that given significant cost increases and the time and effort required to educate their sales forces and consultants, companies are steadfast in their resolve.

Today it is no longer a novelty to use refills in skincare or makeup but a given. Savvy marketers are using sustainable packaging features and the use of recycled materials to attract concerned consumers. Packaging suppliers are heeding the call by using natural materials and recycled glass and plastic for bottles and caps, compacts and jars.

As a designer, it makes creating luxury packaging a challenge. A new definition of luxury is called for that can incorporate sustainable packaging to reflect society today.

The challenges and opportunities going forward for cosmetic packaging are dependent on if marketing will embrace the continuum and expansion of sustainable packaging or treat it as a PR tool that was the flavor du jour and move on. We are an industry that is reflective of fashion. Day glo and sequined tee shirts and running shoes, mirror studded handbags and sunglasses covered in rhinestones are not recyclable or sustainable. Are consumers really buying into the environment even if it means giving up bling? 

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The Future of Cosmetic Packaging