Aptar’s latest partnerships signal a commitment to recycled and reusable packaging solutions

Cosmetics and personal care manufacturers are all working toward some sort of sustainability goals. And its not uncommon for those goals to include a benchmark for using recycled, recyclable, or reusable packaging. Accordingly, material suppliers and packaging makers are stepping in to address the new needs of beauty makers.

Refillable packaging solutions ​

The environmental services company TerraCycle got its start in 2001 and has been making inroads that move business away from single-use and disposable packaging all along. Recently, the company’s Loop refillable packaging program has been getting a lot of attention for its partnerships with personal care corporations like Beiersdorf and P&G.

And now packaging suppliers are getting involved too. “We are pleased to partner with TerraCycle on the Loop e-commerce platform for reusable consumer products,”​ Stephan Tanda, president and CEO of Aptar, tells the press. “This partnership,” ​he says, “represents our vision, and our customers’ vision, for a more circular economy where packaging does not become waste. By joining Loop’s advisory board, and through further collaboration with the world’s leading brands, we can work together to better design products for reuse.”​

TerraCycle’s CEO, Tom Szaky calls Aptar “a very important and strategic partner for Loop.” ​He expands on that by explaining that he believes “working with Aptar, one of the world’s leading packaging companies, to provide durable dispensing solutions to the world’s leading CPG companies, is going to have a significant positive effect on the entire Loop platform.”​

Recycled packaging materials ​

PureCycle Technologies makes a recycled polypropylene material that it describes as “ultra pure;” ​its know as UPRP: Ultra-Pure Recycled Polypropylene. The patented recycling process was developed and licensed by P&G, according to this month’s Aptar media release outlining the company’s new relationship with PureCycle.

The partnership means that Aptar will work closely with PureCycle and the UPRP to develop packaging and dispensing solutions that both meet end-consumer expectations and perform well during processing. “We are pleased to partner with PureCycle Technologies to introduce UPRP into our ever-growing portfolio of dispensing systems,”​ says Tanda.

“Customers are seeking robust solutions when it comes to sustainable packaging, especially in the food and cosmetics markets, and we believe there are many applications for UPRP that will satisfy those unmet needs,” ​he says, adding that “this critical partnership further reinforces our commitment to supporting a circular economy where products and materials are reused or recycled and do not become waste.”​

For PureCycle, the deal presents an opportunity to sell its unique material into the cosmetics and personal care packaging supply chain in both the US and Europe. Along with that, the deal “is not only a technical validation of our process, but a commercial validation of our model that plastic waste is valuable and we as a society must act now to make plastics recycling a reality,” ​Mike Otworth, CEO of PureCycle Technologies, says in the media release.

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Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.