L’Oréal expands the use of paper bottles across its portfolio

Premium Beauty News

26 January 2021

L'Oréal expands the use of paper bottles across its portfolio

The cosmetics giant wants to generalize the substitution of plastics by cardboard in the primary packaging of its products. The advances already made with Ecologic Brands for Seed Phytonutrients, and with Albéa for La Roche Posay will be extended to new brands. The group is also betting on its partnership with the start-up Paper Bottle Company (Paboco), funded by Billerudkorsnäs and Alpla, to supply its brands with 100% bio-sourced, recyclable and biodegradable bottles.

As early as 2018, for the launch of Seed Phytonutrients in the United States, the L’Oréal group partnered with sustainable packaging supplier Ecologic Brands - recently acquired by Jabil Inc. - to create the first paper bottle for the bathroom able to resist to the bathroom humidity.

A shower-safe paper bottle for Matrix and Redken

Ecologic Brands’ paper bottle technology offers the advantage of an unmatched level of commercial maturity. It has been used for several years by laundry brand Seventh Generation. The technology consists of a cardboard shell in which is inserted a thin bag made of recycled food-grade plastic.

“Ecologic and L’Oréal broke new ground when we incubated the world’s first shower-safe paper bottle for the Seed Phytonutrients project. We’re taking things a step further by bringing this innovative packaging solution to our market-leading Matrix and Redken brands,” said Shane Wolf, president worldwide, American Professional Brands, L’Oréal Professional Products Division.

Bio-sourced and recyclable bottles for La Roche Posay and Khiel’s

L’Oréal has also announced its brands La Roche Posay and Khiel’s would soon use cardboard bottles developed by the start-up Paboco, founded by Billerudkorsnäs and Alpla, of which L’Oréal has been a partner since its inception.

The technology developed by Paboco is designed to create 100% recyclable bottles made of wood cellulose with a bio-material based barrier capable of resisting liquids, CO2 and oxygen, and suitable for liquid goods such as carbonated and still drinks, beauty products and more.

The high barrier properties (the ability to withstand gas permeability) required for the bottle are provided by a thin layer of PEF (polyethylene furanoate) by Dutch company Avantium. PEF is a 100% plant-based and recyclable polymer. Thus, it is possible to fully recycle the Paper Bottle by separating the paper and PEF.

While it has the advantage of recyclability, the Paboco bottle has not yet been tested on the market, unlike the one developed by Ecologic Brands.

Cardboard-based tubes for La Roche Posay

Last year, La Roche Posay launched the first cosmetic tubes incorporating a part of cardboard. Developed in partnership with Albéa, they allow to reduce by 45% the quantity of plastic required for its manufacture compared to a conventional tube.

Garnier, another flagship brand of the group, is also committed to using these tubes as part of their environmental targets.