Cosmetics

HENKEL TURNS PLASTIC SOUP INTO DETERGENT BOTTLES

2021-11-12

NEW DESIGN FOR A YOUNG TARGET GROUP

“Revolutionising the relationship between man and apparel” – this was the stated aim for the launch of the new Henkel brand ‘Lovables’ in late 2017. It is designed to hit the bull’s eye with a new younger target group. With its brand claim “My dresses are my treasures” Henkel has initiated one of the biggest marketing campaigns in company history addressing fashionistas and/or fashion and trend-conscious men and women who want to care for their garments like gems. Those caring for their skin and hair should also be able to love and care for their clothing. This is precisely why the packaging design of this ‘Perwoll’ sub-brand deliberately parts with the customary category codes. Laundry shampoo and conditioner resemble an extra-large 850 millilitre shampoo bottle while the so-called ‘Lovables’ laundry treatments are packaged in sachets like skin-care masks.

NEW BOTTLES FROM PLASTIC WASTE

The younger target group also stands out with an increased environmental awareness that the Düsseldorf based company responds to with sustainable packaging materials. All bottles in the ‘Lovables’ product range are made of 100% PET (rPET) and are therefore also completely recyclable.

By their own accounts, AVEDA were the first cosmetics brand to use 100% recycled PET. Photo: AVEDA

Now Henkel goes even one step further with its cooperation with the Belgian NGO ‘Waste Free Oceans’ (WFO). From 2018 they jointly want to collect plastic waste for three years to produce some 100 tons of recycled material annually. They start along the river Danube in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. Here the currents and the river course are ideal for the campaign that volunteers are also invited to join in with. After concluding this collection campaign they will continue in the Mediterranean. The aim is to turn these captured raw materials into more than one million ‘Lovables’ bottles.

PROMOTE RECYCLING

Numerous companies have already demonstrated that cosmetics packaging can be produced sustainably and can, after use, be turned into other meaningful products. The cosmetics brand AVEDA, for example, uses recycled plastics in over 85% of its PET bottles and jars for skin and haircare. They use both collected milk and water bottles. By their own accounts, this collection saves 600 tons of primary plastics every year.

Upcycling idea: how LUSH packaging is made into pretty flower pots quickly and easily. Photo: Lush

Furthermore, this cosmetics producer forming part of the Estée Lauder Group is also committed to collecting used cosmetics packaging. In 2008 AVEDA supported a recycling campaign in the USA where a total of 145 million caps were collected to be converted into new packaging.

To make recycling as easy as possible and generate the maximum volume of new raw materials from old packaging the products of British cosmetics brand ‘Lush’ are packaged in sleek, black pots that consist of 100% regionally collected and recycled plastic. Furthermore, the so-called ‘5-Pot Programme’ is meant to encourage consumers to return the empty pots to the stores. For five of these shoppers receive a free facial mask. After washing and shredding the plastic is molten and moulded into new pots. Alternatively, you can also keep the sleek pots, perforate them and use them as flower pots.

With his series ‘Plastiquarium’ David Egar shows how packaging can become art. Photo: David Edgar’s Plastiquarium

Anything but sleek, however, are the artworks that David Edgar creates from recycled plastics. His skilled hands create colourful sea monsters from detergent bottles and the like – called “Plastiquarium” these can already be marvelled at in US museums such as in Pittsburgh (PA), San Francisco (CA) and Salem (MA). Selected objects can be purchased online. The exclusive artworks retail for between US$ 25 and US$ 1,250.