Industry publication Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) reported last week’s HBA Global Expo in New York had a major focus on sustainable and more eco-friendly packaging.
Packaging options that companies are exploring include everything from glass containers to vegetable inks and from paper and outer packaging made from recycled materials to biodegradable or recyclable packaging.
“Last year, it was all about biodegradable plastics and I feel that this year there’s been a shift to using recyclable glass,” Taya Tomasello, senior beauty analyst at market research firm Mintel told WWD.
She also said she’s seen more and more companies do away with the outer packaging.
Italy-based Leoplast Group, which uses natural vegetable-based and renewable sources such as biopolymer produced by NatureWorks LLC, said companies don’t realize the kind of impact they can have by using more eco-friendly packaging.
The company supplied Cargo Cosmetics with its VegetalPlastic for the Plant Love makeup line, which was launched early last year.
“From using PLA [polylactic acid] packaging, you can save 60 percent [of the] fossil fuel in comparison to using traditional plastics, in addition to reducing greenhouse gasses up to 90 percent,” said Graziano Reggiani, general manager of Leoplast.
Reggiani told WWD that he finds the U.S. market is more ready to understand and explore more eco-friendly alternatives in terms of packaging, in comparison to the European market, which he said still has a ways to go.