Beauty player has teamed up with LyondellBasell, Plastic Energy and Albéa Tubes to realise the new range - CosmeticsBusiness

L’Occitane en Provence has joined forces with materials company LyondellBasell, chemical recycler Plastic Energy and Albéa Tubes on cosmetics tubes and caps that support the circular economy.

The two re-designed packs will house products from L’Occitane’s almond range.

The polymers used are supplied by LyondellBasell as CirculenRevive and based on advanced chemical recycling technology from Plastic Energy, which converts end-of-life plastic waste streams into pyrolysis oil feedstock.

Plastic Energy’s recycled oils, branded under the name TACOIL, were the source material for LyondellBasell, which was then allocated to the product for tubes and caps using a mass balance approach.

A lifecycle analysis, conducted by independent sustainability consultants, found plastics made from Plastic Energy’s TACOIL to have a lower climate change impact than virgin plastic.

The actual cosmetics tubes and caps were manufactured by Albéa, which has pledged to make all of its tubes recyclable by 2025.

The Almond Shower Scrub is the holy grail in terms of responsible packaging today. The tube and cap are designed for full recyclability and made of 93% recycled polyethylene (PE) content. On top, both are made of PE for higher-quality recycling, confirmed as recycling-ready by recycler associations in both Europe and the US. This packaging is in effect closing the loop, and that’s quite a breakthrough.

Gilles Swyngedauw, VP of Sustainability and Innovation, Albéa Tubes

We are accelerating our circular economy journey and are engaged to reach an overall 40% recycled content in all our plastic packaging by 2025. The use of advanced recycling technology in our plastic tubes is an exciting step forward. Collaborating with LyondellBasell and Albéa was key for success. The new tubes strictly follow ISCC Plus guidelines with a mass balance approach in order to satisfy our two clients: the customer and nature.

David Bayard, R&D Packaging Director at L’Occitane