Sustainable Skincare Packaging

In the skincare industry, sustainability is taking on a much more important role than it ever has before. 120 billion units of packaging are produced every year in the cosmetics industry, with the majority of it being single use plastics. Obviously, the way the skincare industry is operating now, is not sustainable in the long run, as our waste continues to fill landfills and suffocate our oceans.

Plastic can take more than 400 years to degrade, yet companies still need a way to effectively package their products. There are opportunities with other options like glass or primarily biodegradable plastic, but these options, just like many other alternatives, have their own set of environmental drawbacks. For example, glass is heavier than plastic so shipping it would create more carbon emissions than shipping plastic. For this reason, true sustainability is more difficult than it may look on the surface. Many smaller companies do not have the resources to do R&D so they are simply following the tailwinds of larger companies who have sustainability initiatives.

Hemp is a material that is showing promise in the world of packaging. Hemp plastic is a sustainable alternative to plastic, which is 100% biodegradable and recyclable. Producing hemp plastic does not involve the use of petroleum based compounds, sparing our atmosphere from even more CO2 emissions, and other greenhouse gasses. Hemp plastic also requires 45% less energy than non-renewable plastic. Hemp plastic is also carbon negative because it absorbs CO2 over its lifespan.

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