Against a backdrop of tightening environmental regulations and heightened consumer demands for sustainability, companies are having to rethink their practices. Ecocert, through its dedicated Sustainable Materials department, offers companies solutions to meet these legal requirements, but also to enhance the value of their eco-design initiatives. The aim is to encourage the integration of recycled materials and the marketing of recyclable cosmetics packaging. Ecocert offers brands and manufacturers reference labels, guaranteeing that plastic packaging complies with international standards.
Cosmetics packaging: high expectations and a changing regulatory framework
Packaging represents up to 70 % of the total weight of a cosmetic product. Their environmental impact is therefore scrutinized by consumers, but also framed by increasingly strict regulations, such as the European PPWR (Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation) legislation or the French AGEC (anti-waste law for a circular economy). Among the requirements: targets for packaging recyclability; quantified targets for recycled content in packaging; a requirement for traceability of materials used and transparency on their composition.
At the same time, consumer pressure is strong: nearly two-thirds of French people (63 %) pay close attention to product packaging when making purchases, with the main concerns being packaging practicality (an important criterion for 70 % of consumers surveyed) and environmental information (consulted by 55 % of consumers surveyed).1
Adapted Ecocert labels
In response to growing demands for sustainability, Ecocert has selected several labels that provide essential guarantees of the recyclability and traceability of recycled materials used in packaging and industrial products.
The RecyClass Recyclability label assesses the recyclability of packaging by means of a rating (from A to C), and helps to guarantee its reintegration into recycling circuits. In particular, this label enables us to meet some of the packaging verification requirements of the Cosmos standard.
The RecyClass Recycled Plastics Traceability label promotes the use of recycled plastics in your plastic packaging, offering financial advantages (e.g. exemption from plastic tax in Spain, eco-modulation in France) and meeting PPWR requirements (target of 10 to 30 % of recycled plastics by 2030).
The Global Recycled Standard (GRS) label promotes the integration of recycled materials in industrial products, with a guaranteed minimum of 20 % of recycled materials and responsible supply chain management.
The Ocean Bound Plastic (OBP) label, for its part, recovers plastic waste collected before it reaches the oceans.
The solutions proposed by Ecocert support the major changes taking place in the cosmetics sector, in particular by encouraging the development of single-material packaging, which is more easily recyclable, as well as the elimination of over-packaging and the lightening of packaging, as part of a reinforced eco-design approach.
The labels proposed by the organization represent a strategic lever for transforming business models, accelerating the transition to a circular economy and reducing the ecological footprint of packaging.
"Cosmetics brands and manufacturers are faced with a dual requirement: to preserve the consumer experience while reducing the environmental impact of their products, particularly their packaging. Our labels support this transition by ensuring the veracity of the commitments made, and by providing reliable benchmarks for reconciling technicality and environmental responsibility, by promoting recyclability and the integration of recycled materials in packaging. Innovation in terms of recyclability is essential, but we are convinced that manufacturers must also include the development of their packaging in a global approach based on the 3Rs - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle".explains Sylvana Scampini, head of Ecocert's sustainable materials department.
1. All4pack Emballage Paris survey: the French and product packaging
