Sustainable packaging has become an integral market driver in the beauty segment. According to a Shorr Packaging survey of over 2,000 American consumers, 90% of those polled said they were more likely to buy from brands that prioritized sustainable packaging, and nearly three-quarters of respondents expressed willingness to switch to brands offering sustainable packaging.
And while the beauty and cosmetics industry ranked among the leaders in CPG sustainable packaging goods, 34% of customers surveyed believe there’s still work to be done.
Driving Innovation
Forward momentum in sustainable packaging relies on the availability of greener materials and packaging options that make use of them. Inspired by the creativity of beauty and cosmetic brands, packaging providers continue to tap into their own ingenuity, with a flurry of sustainable new containers, labeling, and dispenser launches.
“Sustainability is a critical value for beauty brands and their consumers,” comments UDN’s Cynthia Huang, Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer. “As consumers increasingly seek eco-friendly options, our sustainable packaging solutions help our partners meet these demands and support their environmental goals, thereby enhancing brand value and reducing environmental footprints.”
UDN recently provided a unique dry shampoo packaging solution to a UK-based sustainable hair care brand known for its “effortless, zero-waste, and transformational” principles. UDN’s Mist Tube is designed with a mono-material structure, reducing plastic usage and simplifying recycling. The tube features a leak-proof cap and body integration and is made from eco-friendly materials like sugarcane.
The Mist Tube initially faced market skepticism because it didn’t use traditional aerosol mechanisms. “The product does not rely on metal springs or complex propellants, instead utilizing a unique tube head design to create a fine mist,” Huang explains, adding that it just needed to find the right brand partner. “This collaboration demonstrated the value of innovation and the importance of finding the right partners to bring sustainable solutions to life.”
Viva has added a variety of environmentally savvy new packaging solutions to its repertoire, spanning high PCR content tubes, sticks, and jars that range from 45%-100% PCR; reusable and refillable round sticks, oval sticks, and PET jars; mono-material tubes, sticks, and jars; and lightweighted tubes with low profile caps and thinner walls.
Melanie Gaudun, Viva’s Business Development and Marketing Manager, says one of the most exciting areas of sustainable development is stick packaging that’s designed for whole-body applications. Sticks, she says, are incredibly versatile, with options including sustainable material choices, refillable cartridge systems and customizable branding capabilities.
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Viva has also migrated its in-mold tube label decoration expertise to sticks to create high-impact, sustainable solutions.
One of Viva’s latest stick ventures culminated in a solution for Fur’s Chafe Cushion, a friction-barrier product, which aligns with Fur’s commitment to clean, effective, and eco-conscious solutions.
Housed in a standard oval, bottom-fill stick for a smooth, generous application in a portable design, the Chafe Cushion stick’s barrel and internal parts are 100% custom yellow PCR with a matching transparent matte cap. The soft-touch barrel is decorated using in-mold label technology.
“With a bold, eye-catching color, a recyclable PP structure, high PCR content, and made in North America, Fur’s Chafe Cushion Stick is easier on the environment and easy to love,” Gaudun says.
Refined Favorites
Developing greener versions of familiar packaging often comes down to thinner container walls, lightweighted caps and swapping standard materials for something a bit more sustainable. It’s not an easy task, but packaging providers are getting it done, producing high-quality products for discerning beauty brands.
The divisions of Albéa have been hard at work creating more sustainable versions of popular beauty packaging.
The company’s Tube arm has launched three new products for North America: the low-profile Slight cap, the Metamorphosis paper-based tube, and the lighter weight EcoFusion Top, all of which focus on a reduction in plastic.
Albéa’s Cosmetics & Fragrance division also recently debuted a new lightweight BIM compact range that provides both functionality and sustainability. Available in three sizes (S, M, L), it features a sleek, modern round design with an ergonomic lid for ease of use.
What sets this package apart, says Albéa, is its sustainable production material. Initially made with 30% recycled PET (r-PET) and 70% PET, the supplier has now introduced a 100% PET version, ensuring that the compact is designed for recycling and contributes to a circular economy. It has already been adopted by Boots No7 for their foundation and eyeshadow collections.
Case Paper is exploring options like biodegradable and compostable films and anticipates having at least one of these options ready for commercial volumes in 2025.
“Despite a movement away from plastics—especially single-use plastics—in certain applications, the physical properties of film often make it the best packaging solution from a functional standpoint,” says Jonathan Hummer, Director of Technical Sales. “Because there is still a large appetite for film-laminated packaging, finding film solutions that minimize environmental impact while still providing the necessary performance and physical properties for the packaging application has been a big focus.”
In addition to providing a plethora of planet-friendly paper, Case Paper has created its own fully recyclable laminate, LuMet™ transfer metallized film.
“Biodegradable and compostable films provide the environmental considerations consumers are looking for while optimizing cost and packaging performance,” Hummer comments. “Many of these products are eco-friendly without compromising on visual appeal, printability, foldability, and durability.”
Eastman’s newest resin for cosmetic packaging is Cristal™ One IM812 Renew. This sustainable solution for cosmetic packaging is compatible with the RIC1 recycling stream and allows for molding with significant thickness, exceptional clarity, and consistent color using up to 100% ISCC PLUS certified recycled content.
Renewable Resources
On the paper spectrum, Arkay’s Director of Sales, Gregg Goldman, suggests that brands kick their sustainability efforts up a notch by shifting to more environmentally friendly paperboard, such as Monadnock’s Envi Performance, which is not only durable and made from 100% post-consumer waste recycled fiber, it’s also FSC-certified, carbon neutral, and manufactured using wind power.
“Due to the prevalence and increasing importance of sustainable materials, there has been a reduction in plastic-based laminates, while at the same time an increase in responsibly sourced paperboard,” he says. “Many people don’t realize that the paperboard and packaging industries are at the forefront of careful stewardship of our forests and the reduction in plastics use.”
Arkay manufactured a carton for Too Faced last year using Monadnock’s Astrolite .018pt, 3 spot colors, AQ Soft Touch Coating, Hot Stamp Gold, Debossing, and Embossing—“and the result was as eye-catching as anything we might have produced with non-sustainable board,” says Goldman.
Arcade Beauty also turned to paper for the reinvention of mono-dose sachets for skincare, haircare, and color cosmetic sampling, replacing plastic with an 80% paper material. The 80% Paper Packette is the company’s first recycle-ready beauty sample that meets critical repulpability requirements, allowing it to enter the paper recycling stream. It represents a 76% reduction in plastic use and a 63% decrease in CO₂ emissions.
The 80% Paper Packette was developed in collaboration with skincare brand Origins.
Molpack has launched new lightweight 50ml PET jars that are combined with a PP cap and PP interior. The configuration is100% recyclable/recycled and can also be manufactured in PCR material up to 100%, with a refill option. The company reports that the package is fully customizable and can be decorated with screen printing, hot stamping, and pad printing. The cap can also have a matte or glossy finish without any price increase because the finishing is done in the mold without adding any extra decoration process.
Virospack kicked off 2025 with the introduction of Monomaterial Pumps and the new Forewood® Cellulose Dropper Cap.
The Monomaterial Pump with locker system is 100% recyclable and specifically designed for thin and viscous formulas favorited by the beauty and personal care industries. The pump is made entirely from PP, enhancing recyclability without the need for prior disassembly.
“PP is known for its compatibility with cosmetic ingredients, which is crucial for maintaining the product’s safety and efficacy,” says Verena Fiori Ferreira, Virospack’s Marketing Director.
“Its resistance to many chemicals makes it particularly suitable for products with high acidity or high concentrations of certain active ingredients.”
The Forewood Cellulose Dropper Cap material replaces conventional plastic with a combination of wood fibers and biopolymers that are free of fossil substances while maintaining the same functionality and performance.
“Renewable, infinitely available and environmentally friendly, wood fibers combine perfect sustainability properties with beneficial effects on the Forewood material, such as a natural look and improved mechanical performance,” Ferreira comments. “Replacing fossil resources with renewable raw materials is the idea behind 100% bio-based polymers. These polymers enable the material to be shaped by forming a malleable matrix around the wood fibers.”
The Forewood Cap is certified by sustainable forestry (PEFC). It is composed of a biodegradable biopolymer, 100% compostable and plant-based, with 0% fossil resources, which reduces the CO2 footprint.
Albert Paper manufactures FSC-certified paperboard and corrugated packaging under one roof, helping centralize a company’s tertiary needs in one facility, spanning chip packers, partitions, liners, pads, shippers, printed cartons, and e-commerce mailers.
One of its latest e-commerce corrugated DTC mailers was produced for Oribe. Made from 100% recycled fibers using paper from Freedom Corrugated, the box is bleached white on both sides. To personalize the box, Albert performed a one-pass direct print combination of four colors, delivering text and graphics to elevate the unboxing experience.
Commitments to Sustainability
Everyday commitments to sustainable business practices are an important part of a company’s overall strategy.
SR Packaging is ISO 14001 certified and was recently awarded an EcoVadis gold medal in recognition of its daily sustainability operations to minimize its ecological footprint, optimize resource usage, and comply with environmental regulations.
Related: What’s New in Sustainable Packaging
“We often encounter new business queries asking for sustainable solutions, and we answer with our PCR packaging, recyclable design, refillable options, renewable sugarcane tubes, and the lighter, more stable EBM Airless Bottles, as well as new techniques of eco-friendly decorations,” says Eric Wu, CEO, SR Packaging North America.
One of SR Packaging’s latest brand endeavors entailed a partnership with Orveon Global to develop a completely customized, exclusive tube design for Laura Mercier Pure Canvas Primers, reducing plastic usage and incorporating post-consumer recycled plastics.
The tubes are minimally decorated in keeping with the Laura Mercier brand concept, using offset printing to achieve a gradation tone for the entire look, with added silk screen for the product copy.
Arkay has not only reached the Platinum Recognition level from EcoVadis, it’s also achieved BRCGS certification, which offers a standard for manufacturing practices, guaranteeing that their products are safe, legal, and high-quality.
“We are attentive to sustainable business practices, incorporating them into all our departments, procedures and company culture,” says the company’s Ruth Rugoff, Chief Communications Officer. “Arkay continues to commit to an environmentally conscientious culture, and we use environmentally friendly materials to reduce our footprint.
Arkay has achieved CarbonNeutral® status and most recently installed an all-white roof on its facility in Roanoke, contributing to the reduction of energy consumption.
Curtis Packaging achieved its CarbonNeutral status in 2007 and has run its entire operation on renewable energy since 2006.
“Curtis has a reputation as being one of the world’s most sustainable packaging converters,” says the company’s Michael Gorman, Vice President of Sales & Business Development, noting that the company uses 100% renewable energy, recyclable inks, and coatings—and is committed to recycling about 95% of the material that goes through its facility. Curtis Packaging additionally sponsors a 5-acre carbon off-site forest in Costa Rica to capture and store part of the company’s greenhouse gas emissions.
With climate change as its focal issue, Lumson, a premium airless solutions provider, has “embarked on a mission of supply chain engagement that aims to monitor its impact on climate change ‘from cradle to gate,’ meaning upstream of our organization, and to increase the reliability and transparency of our CSR Report, according to Nadia Valdameri, Group Quality Assurance Manager and Sustainability & ESG Manager.
Among the company’s upcoming goals for 2025-2026 are obtaining ISO 14064-1, a standard that allows organizations to quantify their GHG emissions to implement Carbon Management policies, and ISO 14067, a standard that provides organizations with a means to calculate the carbon footprint of their products and helps them better understand how to reduce it.
Lumson develops products that meet sustainable criteria defined by a circular economy model, with eco-design principles aimed at minimizing the use of virgin materials, favoring those with renewable sources, and considering the products’ end of life during the development phase, with the purpose of reducing waste by developing reusable options and introducing recycled content in the production process, says Matteo Carraro, Lumson’s Innovation & Product Sustainability Manager. “The final goal is to create a virtuous and ideally closed production cycle with the least possible impact on the environment and on humans.”
WISTA.DTS realized the impact of sustainability 30 years ago, along with the potential for greenwashing and disinformation in association with plastic recycling mechanisms.
The company now offers mono-material airless packaging in PE, green PE, and PCR, and with sustainability at the core of its business and development, it specializes in “truly recyclable mono-material packaging.”
“For plastic skincare packaging to be recyclable, it’s not enough for it to simply be plastic; it must be the right type of plastic and truly mono-material,” says WISTA.DTS’ Elizabete Gomes, Head of Marketing. “In recent years, we realized that many existing market solutions did not cater to the need for mono-material options, and those that did often lacked the efficiency and performance that the cosmetics industry demands, especially with increasingly complex and sensitive formulas. Conversely, multi-plastic packaging that performed well was, in reality, not recyclable.”
The company’s fundamental commitment, she says, is to expand its portfolio of mono-material solutions with seamlessly integrated eco-design. “We aim to create positive changes in the world through packaging that is easily reintegrated into the circular economy, significantly reducing costs and reliance on raw materials,” she concludes.
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