L’Oreal has unveiled the world’s first cosmetic bottle made from plastic recycled using enzymatic technology.
Developed by Carbios, the enzymatic process is suitable for all types of PET and makes these plastics infinitely recyclable. Biotherm will be the first L’Oreal’s brand to feature the recycled bottle as packaging. The group said it plans to put into production the bottles based on this disruptive innovation in 2025.
“This is a promising innovation for the years to come that demonstrates our commitment to bring to market more environmentally friendly packaging and which is part of a circularity initiative begun more than 15 years ago,” said Jacques Playe, packaging and development director at L’Oreal.
L’Oreal and Carbios have worked on the development of the bottle to replace mechanical recycling since 2017.
The initiative is also part of the group’s sustainability program for 2023, L’Oreal for the Future. The program aims to completely remove virgin plastics of fossil origin from product packaging which will instead be derived from recycled materials or bio-sourced by 2030. At the same time, all the ingredients used in its formulas and all bio-sourced materials will be traceable and come from sustainable sources.
L’Oreal’s initiative is one of many being undertaken by beauty companies as they seek to reduce their environmental footprint and meet growing consumer demand for eco-commitments. Ethique has developed a lipstick container that can literally be tossed in the garden when finished, and Everist is selling shampoos in recycled aluminium tubes.
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