Eastman supports the non-profit beauty industry association in its efforts to advance the circularity of beauty packaging.
Today, Eastman announced its membership of the non-profit organization Pact Collective. Pact is comprised of beauty industry stakeholders focused on improving the end-of-life of beauty packaging and developing solutions that promote circularity for the industry. Eastman and Pact will work together to harness Eastman's molecular recycling technologies to recycle beauty packaging that cannot be mechanically recycled and would otherwise end up in landfill or incinerated.
" We are delighted to join Pact Collective. We share their goal of ending packaging waste in the beauty industry, and are excited to explore opportunities to leverage our molecular recycling technologies to increase beauty product recycling," said Tara Cary, Cosmetics Packaging Segment Manager at Eastman. " Recycling challenges for the beauty industry are complex. Eastman is committed to working with the industry to find solutions for a more sustainable future. Pact Collective is positioned to bring value chain participants together to achieve concrete results. "
Pact Collective offers both an in-store collection program and a mail-back program for hard-to-recycle beauty packaging. Pact saw Eastman as a valuable partner because of its innovative molecular recycling technologies, which offer the possibility of recycling materials that the industry can reuse in packaging.
" Pact identifies the best possible use for the materials we collect - always starting with mechanical recycling where possible. What we like about Eastman's technology is that it's true material-to-material recycling, not waste-to-energy recycling." said Mia Davis, co-founder of Pact. " Eastman can help us keep plastic in circulation, creating more recycled content that can be used in future packaging for beauty products and other items."
Eastman is a pioneer in molecular recycling - innovative technologies that source hard-to-recycle plastic waste rather than fossil-based raw materials to create high-performance materials. These technologies divert plastic waste from landfill, giving it new life and reducing greenhouse gas emissions compared with traditional production.
Over the past 18 months, Eastman has launched two sustainable material portfolios for cosmetic packaging using its molecular recycling technologies - Eastman Cristal Renew resins with high levels of certified recycled content and Eastman Cristal One Renew resins that offer brands recycled content as well as recyclability in the municipal recycling stream. As an important next step in building the circular economy, Eastman is exploring strategic take-back programs in many of the markets it serves to create "small closed loops" such as recycled beauty packaging.
