Technological watch

SABIC, a global leader in the chemicals industry, today announced that Beiersdorf will be using certified renewable polypropylene (PP) from SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio of “second generation” bio-based materials in the skincare company’s cosmetics packaging. The new packaging products will be introduced in the market in 2021 and replace fossil-based virgin PP.

SABIC’s certified renewable polymers, including various PP and polyethylene (PE) materials, are derived from animal-free and palm oil-free “‘second generation”’ renewable feedstock, such as tall oil waste from the wood pulping process in the paper industry, which is not in direct competition with human food and animal feed production sources.

“The use of renewable raw materials in our product packaging represents a major lever for us to reduce our carbon emissions and improve our ecological footprint,” says Michael Becker, Head of Global Packaging Development at Beiersdorf. “We are proud to be the first in our mass market segment to use polypropylene made from renewable, plant-based raw materials as a packaging material for our cosmetic products, and we are pleased to have a strong, experienced partner with SABIC. Together, we take an important next step towards achieving our ambitious sustainability targets.”

As part of its CARE BEYOND SKIN Sustainability Agenda with ambitious targets to be implemented by 2025, Beiersdorf wants to make its packaging 100 percent refillable, reusable or recyclable, increase the share of recycled material in plastic packaging to 30 percent and reduce the use of fossil-based virgin plastic by 50 percent (compared to 2019).

“We are very pleased to welcome Beiersdorf on our journey towards transforming the plastics industry into a circular and sustainable economy,” comments Sergi Monros, Vice President of Performance Polymers & Industry Solutions for Petrochemicals at SABIC. “Innovative cosmetics packaging using our certified renewable PP and PE polyolefins can make a significant contribution to reducing the fossil depletion and greenhouse gas emissions. The plant-based materials provide easy drop-in solutions to existing fossil-based plastic conversion processes and applications, without compromises on purity, quality, safety or convenience. SABIC is determined to help support its partners in benefiting from this potential.”

SABIC’s certified renewable polymers are based on a mass balance approach in compliance with the widely recognized International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC PLUS) scheme. The mass balance is determined to allocate the renewable content used in production and conversion of the plastic material to the ultimate application. This allows brand owners to highlight and quantify the sustainable choice consumers can make by purchasing end products packaged in renewable plastics. The ISCC Plus accreditation verifies that the mass balance accounting follows predefined and transparent rules. In addition, the certification also provides traceability throughout the partners’ entire supply chain from the feedstock to the final product.

Moreover, a cradle-to-gate lifecycle analysis has confirmed the sustainability elements of SABIC’s certified renewable materials. From sourcing the raw feedstock to producing the polymers, each ton of the company’s bio-based PP and PE resin reduces CO2 emissions by an average of 4 kg as compared to fossil-based virgin alternatives, while at the same time cutting fossil depletion by up to 80 percent*. The study was carried out according to ISO 14040 and has been validated in a critical third-party review.

SABIC’s complete TRUCIRCLE offering comprises design for recyclability services, mechanically recycled materials, certified circular products from chemical recycling of used plastics and certified renewable polymers from bio-based feedstock. Read more here.

Source: SABIC, press release, 2020-12-11.