- Global value chain collaboration enables a breakthrough in the cosmetics market with refill containers and closures made almost entirely from certified mass-balancing polymers from Sabic's Trucircle portfolio.
- Renewable raw materials of plant origin support the customer's vegan brand image.
- Refillability, the use of renewable materials and recyclability combine to offer a sustainable packaging model.
Sabic, a global leader in the chemical industry, has teamed up with Stella McCartney Beauty and three renowned French plastics converters (Texen, Leygatech and STTP Emballage) to create a set of innovative new refill containers for skin and eye care, produced with certified renewable polymers from Sabic's Trucircle portfolio. The containers, which have already been introduced to the market in North America and the UK, are considered a global breakthrough in responsibly sourced and implemented cosmetic packaging.
Abdullah Al-Otaibi, Managing Director, ETP & Market Solutions at Sabic: " This innovation marks a significant step forward in the transformation of cosmetics and skincare packaging towards fully sustainable material alternatives. Furthermore, it demonstrates that our certified renewable polymers can facilitate change by providing effective replacement solutions without any compromise in terms of processability, purity, quality or convenience. "
The new refill containers have been designed for use with Stella Alter-Care serum and Restore cream. They contain three Sabic polyolefin resins with a mass-balanced content of up to 90 % of certified renewable raw materials, in line with the cosmetics manufacturer's vegan brand. The container heads are molded in impact-resistant Sabic HDPE polyethylene (PE) by Texen, a major player in the market for sustainable cosmetic packaging products. For the container bodies, Leygatech, a leading manufacturer of barrier and multi-layer films, supplies a Sabic LLDPE (linear low density polyethylene) film, which is then processed and printed for container finishing by STTP Emballage, a specialist supplier of film lamination and flexographic printing services. Injection-molded Flip Top closures by Texen in Sabic PP polymer complete the package.
With Stella McCartney Beauty's sustainable container refill concept, the use of renewable raw materials meets consumer demand for a more responsible use of packaging resources. What's more, once containers have reached the end of their useful life, the material value of PP and PE polymers can be recovered through polyolefin recycling, making it a sustainable packaging model.
Sabic's certified renewable polymers include various polypropylene and polyethylene materials derived from second-generation renewable feedstocks, which are selected to avoid direct competition with food and feed production and are not linked to direct or indirect land changes. A cradle-to-gate lifecycle analysis confirmed the superior sustainability of these polymers, concluding that each kg of the company's bio-based resins reduces CO2 emissions by an average of 4 kg compared to virgin fossil-based alternatives, while reducing fossil resource depletion by up to 80 %. What's more, these plant-based materials make it easier to switch from existing fossil applications without compromising on purity, quality, safety or convenience.
The mass balance of renewable raw materials in Sabic materials is validated by an independent third party according to the widely recognized International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC Plus) scheme, following a clearly defined and transparent set of rules. This approach enables the renewable content used in the production and conversion of plastic materials to be attributed to the final application. Certification also ensures traceability throughout partners' supply chains, from raw material to end product, and enables brand owners to document the sustainability of their packaging to consumers.
