US chemical company Dow and LVMH Beauty have partnered to accelerate the use of sustainable packaging across the French luxury giant’s perfume and cosmetic products.
The collaboration aims to integrate bio-based and circular plastics into several of the beauty multinational’s product applications without compromising the functionality or quality of the packaging.
The companies plan to use bio-based and circular plastics to produce sustainable Surlyn Ionomers, which are polymers used to manufacture premium perfume caps and cosmetic cream jars.
Bio-based Surlyn feedstocks include raw materials such as used cooking oil, while circular Surlyn is produced from hard-to-recycle mixed plastic waste using advanced recycling technologies that break down waste plastics into their basic chemical elements, creating raw materials that are equivalent to those made from virgin fossil feedstock.
This circular feedstock can be used in a wide range of packaging, giving waste that is currently going to landfill or being incinerated a second life.
By the end of this year, LVMH’s perfume packaging will include both bio-based and circular Surlyn.
LVMH Beauty says it is committed to reducing the use of plastic packaging derived from fossil fuels in its products.
The company’s Life 360 program aims to achieve zero plastic packaging from virgin fossil resources in the near future.
Claude Martinez, executive president and MD of LVMH Beauty, said collaborating with Dow on developing sustainable Surlyn is key to achieving the company’s sustainability targets without compromising on quality.
Dow’s collaboration with LVMH Beauty is part of the company’s Transform the Waste target, announced in October 2022 in which the company is working with customers and other stakeholders to tackle the challenges of climate change.
