Recycling and Waste in the Cosmetic Industry: Facts and Opinion

Recycling and Waste in the Cosmetic Industry: Facts and Opinion

Sabrina Schrope

Cosmetic Chemist, Owner of Vitamin You

 

Introduction

         The personal care industry is one that interlaps and intersects with other industries and shares its home with our own home. Personal hygiene, fragrances, and beautification are only a few examples of its subsectors where hygiene products and skincare are considered necessities.1,2 The scope of this investigation is limited to beautification and cosmetics within the United States and are further categorized into haircare, skincare, oral care, etc.1 Of these, skincare makes up the majority of consumption. How much is actually produced and what recycling factors are reflected on our waste?3

 

Personal Care Production

         In 2020, the personal care market was valued at $4.72 billion USD with an estimated revenue of $17.6 billion USD in the United States.1,4 According to Statista, the top two best-selling skincare products in the US at this time were facial cleansers and acne treatments which sold 304 million and 85 million units respectively.4 They also consider the US personal care and beauty market to be the most valuable market in the world, especially considering that the average person spends almost $200 annually on cosmetics and perfumes.3

Last year, in 2021, the top four cosmetic units sold in the USA were:5

  • Facial Cleansers (271 million units)
  • Acne Treatments (89 million units)
  • Facial Moisturizers (77 million units)
  • Facial Anti-Aging Products (70 million units)

         This thriving market satisfies billions of customers; however, after these millions of units are used and disregarded, they simultaneously become waste. Both consumers and industries can produce waste in solid, liquid, or gas form.6 Cosmetics then create double the waste when products are put into an outside container. These are considered primary and secondary packaging.7 The United States is one of the largest producers of municipal solid waste. Disregarded food, packaging, and electronics funnel into landfills and have created the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions. In 2016, these emissions accounted for 16% of human-related non-CO2 gas contributing to the global climate change.6

         When researching into data provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), many statistics report on general classifications of waste, but none examine the specific packaging waste generated by the cosmetic industry. It is assumed that waste produced by cosmetics lie within these statistics but cannot be assumed for the entire industry. In 2018, more than 292 million tons of waste was generated. The top three sources being paper (23%), food (21%), and plastic (12%).8 Of this, over 82 million tons were classified as containers and packaging where approximately 44 million tons were recycled.9 Again, these include non-cosmetic products and does not consider the ink, wastewater, rejected products, and more that are wasted during industrial production.10

 

Recycling in Skincare

         Recycling refers to the process in which waste is converted into new useable products. The regulations and infrastructure will vary among recycling plant locations; however, the most commonly accepted materials include plastic, glass, and metal. Fortunately, these are the same materials that are used in the bulk of cosmetic packaging.

         Glass and aluminum containers are easily identifiable, but plastics tend to be more challenging due to the different types. By using a numbering system to code the major plastic types, more awareness is spread on which can and cannot be accepted and recycled. Consumers are also able to choose to purchase a product based on its expected recyclability.

         According to Plastics for Change, “the most widely recycled plastic in the world is PET.” Labeled plastic #1, polyethylene terephthalate can be recycled into clothing, bags, construction materials, and new cosmetic packaging. Once recycled, the new generated plastic is labeled “post-consumer recycled” (PCR).11 Plastic #2, or high-density polyethylene (HDPE), is also easily recyclable and is often used to create large solid color cosmetic bottles or tubes. On the other hand, polypropylene (PP), plastic #5, is cosmetic packaging frequently labeled as easily recyclable, but in reality, can be more challenging and costly for recycling machines.11,7 Luxurious acrylic containers and mixed plastics #6 and #7 are not recyclable at all and should be avoided.

In 2018, the recycling rate for PET and glass bottles and containers were 29.1% and 31.3% respectively. The general types of container waste generated were:9

  • Paper (50.9%)
  • Plastics, all types (17.6%)
  • Glass (11.8%)
  • Aluminum (2.3%)

         In the future, it would be interesting to collect data on what container materials the top-selling cosmetic brands are choosing to use and what percent of these are recyclable or post-consumer recycled. Some brands are opting for re-usable packaging, where consumers can buy refills for their favorite products. According to a study to be published in November 2022, “the positive effects and benefits of reusing containers as opposed to dematerializing them is outweighed by 171% and reduced environmental impacts by 74%.” 7 Although recycling in the USA can be an expensive endeavor, there are more benefits than simply converting waste into new products including12: conserving energy, water, and other natural resources; preventing pollution from emissions and virgin plastic production; and promoting economic security and creating jobs.

 

Opinion on Recent Improvements

         As the owner of my own skincare brand, I find it important to consider both the life cycle of the product and packaging. Yet, due to only needing smaller quantities, options are often limited and personalization for these are near unachievable. Most cosmetic containers sold in quantities less than 1,000 are either glass, PET, PP, HDPE, or metal tins. I have found one select source that sells containers made with PCR, sugarcane, and bamboo components. Luckily, there is a rise in other alternative eco-materials like corn, kraft, and bio-synthesized plastics that look just as beautiful as standard plastic packaging.13 Additionally, larger companies are promising eco-solutions for their cosmetics that I hope become popularized into other industries as well. There is hope on the industrial side and an effort is being made.

         While researching for this article, I conducted a poll on our social media inquiring about how informed people are with recycling in skincare. The results were evenly split between being fully knowledgeable and being fully unaware. Growing up, I was never educated on recycling, the process, or resources available to me. It was the work of local organizations that made the effort to educate our youth and provide brochures on what can and cannot be recycled. I remember in high school our neighborhood was given bright blue recycling bins with pamphlets on what can and cannot be put into it. However, when I moved out and lived in various apartments, none offered recycling at all. Now, recycling cans can be found at colleges, workplaces, and retailers but they assume the public know why and how to recycle. I believe recycling rates can improve with better education on recycling and implementation. Again, an effort is being made in different communities that persuade me into believing that we are moving in the right direction. 

         One of the most frustrating compromises I’ve had to make while selecting our packaging is choosing simple glass containers over luxurious acrylic ones. Plastics 6 and 7 are beautiful and well-crafted but will fault the container unrecyclable as soon as it’s incorporated. I wonder if with better consumer education, the suppliers would feel more pressured to find alternative eco-solutions. The main problem with many biomaterials though, like kraft and sugarcane, is that they don’t have a long reliable lifespan with water-based cosmetics; but with improvement, these could become the new standard for packaging. On the other hand, if acrylic containers are designed to be reused with refills, then they could potentially become more ecofriendly. My concern then is, why not just make a glass container reusable with refills?

         Glass has been my standard for cosmetic packaging due to not only being fully recyclable but also for the public awareness of its recyclability. Because recycling plants vary on which plastics they accept, consumers may opt to trash plastics instead of wishfully recycling them. I consider recycling glass as more common knowledge, which may be why the EPA glass recycling rate is higher. In addition, my small business launched a new DIY product that acts as a refill for our customer’s other cosmetics. Depending on how much water is added, the product can be used to create a mist, serum, or butter. Packaging is one of the most expensive aspects in pricing our products, but by selling refills, consumers save financially and produce less waste.

         Overall, there is no miracle zero-waste company, especially within the skincare industry. I believe more education should be spread about the different types of plastics and transparency on what waste is produced in order to create our house-hold products. With research into new biomaterials and degradable plastics, I have hope that industries will shift more sustainably and inspire new refillable products.

 

 

 

Sources

  1. “Global Personal Care Market Size By Category, By Ingredient Type, By Gender, By Distribution Channel, By Geographic Scope And Forecast.” Verified Market Research. May 2021.
  2. “Cosmetics Industry in the U.S. - statistics & facts” Statista Research Department. Jun 2 2022. Statista <https://www.statista.com/topics/1008/cosmetics-industry/>.
  3. “Cosmetics Consumer Behavior in the U.S. - Statistics & Facts” Statista Research Department. Feb 16 2022. Statista <https://www.statista.com/topics/3138/cosmetics-consumer-behavior-in-the-us/>.
  4. “Skin care market in the U.S” Statista Research Department. Feb 16 2022. Statista <https://www.statista.com/topics/4517/us-skin-care-market/>.
  5. “Skin care unit sales in the United States in 2021 by segment” Statista Research Department. May 2 2022. Statista. <https://www.statista.com/statistics/551449/us-skin-care-unit-sales-by-segment/>
  6. “What are the trends in wastes and their effects on human health and the environment?” March 9 2022. United States Environmental Protection Agency. <https://www.epa.gov/report-environment/wastes#generation>
  7. Gatt, Isaac. Refalo, Paul. 2022. “Reusability and recyclability of plastic cosmetic packaging: A life cycle assessment”. Resources, Conservation & Recycling Advances. Vol 15. 200098. ISSN 2667-3789.
  8. “Guide to Facts and Figures Report about Materials, Waste, and Recycling”. June 22 2022. United States Environmental Protection Agency. <https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/guide-facts-and-figures-report-about>.
  9. “Containers and Packaging: Product-Specific Data”. March 8 2022. United States Environmental Protection Agency. <https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/containers-and-packaging-product-specific>.
  10. Purwanto, P. Permana-Citra, A.D. 2019. “Recycling and Processing of Solid Waste into Products of The Cosmetic Packaging Industry”. Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 012042. DOI:10.1088/1742-6596/1295/1/012042
  11. “Which Plastic and be Recycled?”. May 20 2021. Plastics for Change. <https://www.plasticsforchange.org/blog/which-plastic-can-be-recycled>
  12. “Recycling Basics.” Dec 21 2021. United States Environmental Protection Agency. <https://www.epa.gov/recycle/recycling-basics>
  13. Sahota, A. Sustainability: How the Cosmetics Industry is Greening Up.  2013. DOI:10.1002/9781118676516 
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