The cosmetics industry is accelerating sustainable growth.
P&G's Beauty Division promotes the five guiding principles of safety, quality and efficacy, sustainability, equality and inclusion, and transparency; L'Oreal's "Beauty, shared by all" declares its strategic commitment to every step of the value chain from R&D to operations; Shiseido's "Beauty Innovation for a Better World" focuses on sustainability in three areas: environment, society, and culture...
However, the opposite of trends is true: challenges equal opportunities, and the cosmetic industry's growth path is fraught with many obstacles, sustainable packaging being one of them.
The need for more mature material recycling systems
Over the past decade, more and more packaging manufacturers have joined the ranks of the "3Rs" (Reuse, Reduce, Recycle), but while factory production techniques have advanced and concepts have been updated, the sustainable packaging industry still faces unavoidable pain points - most recyclable packaging does not have the same level of sophistication as its competitors. -Most of the recyclable packaging is not recycled.
Poor recycling systems lead to a certain scale of wasted or contaminated resources and increased remanufacturing costs. Take plastic packaging as an example.
- Only 9% of plastic products produced worldwide are recycled (UN 2018 survey data)
- About 90 percent of the world's waste plastic ends up in the ocean (Trucost, a Standard & Poor's research firm, reports)
- It takes nearly 80% more energy to make the same amount of PET from virgin materials such as petroleum than from recycled plastics (New Retail Business Review)
In China, East Asia, while overall plastic recycling in the country has improved following the introduction of plastic restrictions and waste separation regulations, there is room for improvement in the recycling rate for highly recyclable waste materials.
- The country uses about 30 million tons of recycled plastic scrap annually, accounting for more than 30% of plastic consumption. Among them, the recycling rate of EPS plastic (foam) reaches about 90% (China Plastics Processing Industry Association data)
- Plastic waste can be recycled to different degrees depending on its composition. For example, PET from plastic bottles can be better shredded, melted, and reprocessed for other products, but EPS foam requires more sophisticated processing (Greenpeace study)
In addition to waste recycling as a way to increase the recycling rate of renewable materials, cosmetic stores are another recycling channel to be explored. Many brands have already set up mechanisms to recycle packaging, reusing empty bottles or converting them for scenarios that require a lower grade of plastic particles.
Thinking about full chains needed to break the information gap
The sustainability of the package itself cannot be achieved without the integration of design and manufacturing, and while sustainable ideas can come from different categories of consumer insights, sustainable performance can only come from getting down to earth.
In terms of process, from an idea to a product in the hands of consumers, packaging goes through different stages such as research, conception, design, finalization, plate making, printing, finished product, etc. The design team pursues the aesthetics and innovation of packaging marketing, while the manufacturer cares about product quality and production capacity.
Breaking the separation between packaging design and manufacturing, reducing the loss of understanding of brand information and communication costs, effectively controlling the overall budget and product packaging costs, and improving the management and control of product quality have become a new strategic logic, which is also the core value of the few cosmetic packaging service providers in the industry, represented by ANC.
Returning to the production of sustainable packaging, the mature whole industry chain needs to capture this layer of logic more keenly.
Take the choice of pigment for packaging as an example, the value of recyclable packaging gradually decreases with the number of times it is reused. Therefore, recyclable packaging needs to be designed with transparent packaging to increase the recycling rate of post-consumer packaging.
What makes Z-generation consumers pay for it
A new generation of consumers is emerging, and their attitudes and preferences are particularly clear: they are more willing to pay for products and brands that have social value, but the high price of products can still be a barrier to sustainable packaging choices.
- 73% of consumers feel guilty about enjoying life at the expense of the environment and 80% believe that brands and companies are responsible for the environment (GFK Consumer Research)
- 13% of Gen Z consumers worldwide and 25% in China are particularly concerned about the actions brands are taking to protect the environment (Euromonitor Consumer Reports)
- 59% of Gen Z consumers are willing to buy upcycled products (products that build on used items and make them more valuable through reuse) (First Insight survey data)
- Young people between the ages of 20 and 29 are more likely to buy sustainable goods, and about half of Chinese consumers are willing to pay a premium of up to 10% for sustainable products (China Sustainable Consumption Study)
With such consumer trends, the possibilities for sustainable packaging are endless.
- Lead consumers to learn more about the development and application of environmentally friendly packaging materials
- Increasing the link between consumer behavior and environmental impact
- Influence consumers to change their consumption behavior to a more sustainable one by enhancing their environmental behavior
This will not only create a "like-minded" consumer base but will also encourage companies to think about it.
- What is the impact on the environment and society when plastic is discarded?
- Is it possible to make production and consumption more sustainable through recycling?
- How to work with the industry to expand the recycling of packaging and reduce the cost of recyclable packaging?
This is the next strategic layout, product development, and technological innovation as the core driving force of enterprise development, based on the development and practical application of green packaging materials, from package appearance innovation to structural and functional verification of the integrated development process to ensure innovation while also ensuring the reliability of production, to provide professional technical support for brands to create green packaging.
The growth path of the cosmetics industry is full of many obstacles, sustainable packaging is just one of them. Challenges equal opportunities, from the sustainable packaging application scenarios, production, and manufacturing costs, recycling mechanisms and channels, consumer awareness and other dimensions, the road to sustainable growth has only just begun to accelerate.
