Unfortunately, glass is still the packaging material with the highest energy demand in production. On the one hand, this is because the melting temperature of glass is over 1000 °C and production requires a lot of energy for processing. In addition, glass is very heavy with a density of 2.5 to 6.3 g/cm³ – so not only the production but also the transport of glass packaging consumes a lot of energy. The CO2 emissions are correspondingly high.
Another argument against the exclusive use of glass is safety. Glass bottles in the bathroom and especially in wet areas can quickly fall and cause injuries due to broken glass. Your safety has priority. Even though they are becoming more and more common in our range, we nevertheless continue to see advantages in the alternatives to glass packaging.
Of course, waste avoidance is very important to us because of the environment. Therefore, we completely dispense with outer packaging and only use glass vials for products with pipettes. The airless packaging in which our creams and fluids are filled is therefore made of pure plastic, polypropylene (PP), which is highly recyclable. Polypropylene has distinct advantages over other plastics because it is much stronger and more heat resistant. In addition, its loss of quality during the recycling cycle is extremely low, which is why it can still be used after several “recycling passes”.
In accordance with the cradle-to-cradle concept, we specifically use only resources that are permanently preserved in the recycling cycle. So, for our cleaning and body care products, we have introduced eco-friendly packaging made from recyclate. This means that the bottles (except for the caps) are made from 100% recycled plastic waste. So instead of using up new resources, existing and used ones are recycled, strengthening a waste circular economy. In this way, existing plastic can circulate in the material cycle instead of ending up in the world’s oceans. Recycled plastic, so-called recyclate, can in turn be 100% recycled and completely dispenses with petroleum as a basic material for the production of new granulate as a raw material. And last but not least, the production of bottles from recyclate (rPET) emits less CO2 than new PET.
At the same time, our shipping boxes are made from recycled grass paper. This uses 30% virgin fibre from sun-dried grass and 70% recycled paper. The paper is particularly environmentally friendly because it does not destroy any forest, can be harvested several times a year and only covers short transport distances. In addition, it has a negligibly low industrial water requirement. At the same time, grass paper saves up to 80 % energy per tonne of fresh fibre. Its manufacturing process does not use any process chemicals at all. This enables us to inform about our work from all sides and to give more space to the finest natural cosmetics in every respect.
In addition, we have launched our completely plastic-free WE REDUCE! series and outer boxes. Here, the packaging is made from recycled and in some cases even compostable materials. Outer boxes allow us to inform about our work from all sides and to give more space to the finest natural cosmetics in every respect. Our solid cosmetics as well as the lip care and deodorant tubes are made of grass paper cardboard, while our deodorant cream Rose is filled in a compostable lignin jar, so-called liquid wood. Lignin, by the way, is a sustainable and extremely attractive alternative to plastic. The plastic-free material from renewable sources is made from FSC-certified wood, which is extracted from wood chip residues. The lignin is a real soft touch. It has a wonderfully natural texture, all the packaging benefits of plastic, and is also fully biodegradable and compostable in your own garden.
Because sustainable packaging materials are the future, we continue to expand our waterless cosmetics and are always working on alternatives to our current packaging.