Packaging Design Moves Forward

From perfumes to personal care staples like wipes, brands continue to release new package designs that offer higher recycled content, improved functionality and more options to refill rather than replace. 

Last month, EOS began rolling out new flip caps across its entire body lotion range sold DTC and at Target and Walmart. The new caps are designed to evacuate all the product inside the bottle (a consumer request) but they have an added benefit. By replacing pumps with the new flip caps, EOS is reducing plastic use by 12% across its body lotion packaging. 

Biom, which sells plant-based wipes, offers a refillable dispenser with a “QuickLock” base. The patented mechanism locks the dispenser to the changing surface so users can singlehandedly dispense one wipe at a time. 

According to Mintel, refillable formats have seen only modest expansion in the US, with just 7% growth in launches between 2022 and 2024. Some point to logistical challenges and higher costs as reasons for the low numbers. Despite the challenges, brands continue to offer consumers more options. 

Kiehl’s, for example, has 150ml refillable pouches for its best-selling Ultra Facial Cream. SC Johnson last year partnered with London Drugs in British Columbia to open in-store refill stations for Method and Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day dish and hand soaps, a company spokesperson told Happi.

More sustainable packaging is surging in fine fragrance, with an 80% increase in sustainable launches between 2022 and 2024, according to Mintel.

Coty is expanding refillable fragrance formats, especially in prestige, by introducing lighter‑weight glass bottles, increasing the use of post‑consumer recycled materials and ensuring product folding boxes are FSC‑certified, according to Jean Holtzmann, chief brands officer, prestige. 

Last year, Coty relaunched Hugo Boss The Scent with refillable options and 17% lighter glass bottle. 

For its first prestige fragrance, Destin de Balmain, Balmain Beauty rolled out a refillable glass cube. 

RECYCLING & MATERIALS INNOVATION

Aveda earlier this year announced plans to further step up its sustainable packaging efforts through an alliance with AeroFlexx. According to the accord, Aveda will become the first prestige beauty brand to commercialize the supplier’s curbside recyclable packaging refill technology on a global basis. New refill packaging will debut with select Aveda products beginning in early next year.

TerraCycle has added a new Beauty Zero Waste Bag, a solution for recycling all brands of beauty products and packaging. Billed by officials as its Zero Waste Box “reimagined, “ the new bag is said to be perfectly sized and a more affordable consumer-funded recycling solution. 

“We’ve been recycling beauty products for years through our free recycling programs and Zero Waste Boxes (ZWBs). For many consumers, it can take a while to fill up a small ZWB. The bag is a smaller and lower priced option for consumers that want to recycle their beauty products but either cannot afford or fill a small ZWB,” said TerraCycle Founder and CEO Tom Szaky.

Consumers fill the bag with their empty packaging (users do not need to clean out residual product) and ship to TerraCycle. At TerraCycle, packs are shredded and washed and through sink-float separation, air density separation, magnetic separation and optical sorting, the materials are processed. 

L’Oréal is exploring alternative materials. Among the 13 companies tapped for its new “L’AcceleratOR” sustainable innovation program were Kelpi, which is harnessing seaweed to create recyclable packaging; Bioworks, which is producing bioplastics derived from sugarcane; and Blue Ocean Closures, which is developing fiber-based caps and lids.