Find out what is happening in the cosmetics industry and what sustainable solutions it has in store for the future at Interpack, the world’s leading trade fair for processing and packaging in Düsseldorf, Germany. From May 4 to May 10, 2023, Interpack exhibitors will present the latest developments in the field of filling and packaging of cosmetics, body care and cleaning products in pavilions 15, 16 and 17.

Sustainability has been a big trend in beauty packaging for years. Manufacturers are more likely to use recyclable monomaterials, paper and renewable resources for packaging, often waste from agriculture, forestry or the food industry. Reusable solutions are also popular with customers as they help reduce waste.

This new type of sustainable packaging is equally suitable for traditional and natural cosmetics. But one thing is for sure: natural cosmetics are on the rise. According to Statista, an online statistics platform, strong growth in the market is reducing the share of the traditional cosmetics business. In Europe, Germany ranks first in natural body care and beauty, followed by France and Italy. Globally, the US natural cosmetics market is the largest.

Few manufacturers can afford to ignore the general trend towards sustainability as consumers, natural or not, want cosmetics and care products packaged in sustainable packaging, ideally without plastic at all. That is why Stora Enso, an Interpack exhibitor, has recently developed a laminated paper for the cosmetics industry, which partners can use to make tubes for hand creams and the like. The laminated paper is coated with an EVOH protective layer, which has been widely used in beverage cartons until now. These tubes can be decorated with high quality digital printing. The natural cosmetics manufacturer was also the first to use this technology for marketing purposes, as special software allows for unlimited design variations in the digital printing process. Thus, each pipe becomes a unique work of art.

Bar soaps, harsh shampoos or natural cosmetic powders that can be easily mixed with water at home and turned into body or hair care products are now very popular and save on packaging. But now liquid products in bottles made from recycled content or spare parts in single-material bags are catching on with consumers. Hoffman Neopac tubing, an Interpack exhibitor, is also part of the sustainability trend as it is made up of more than 95 percent renewable resources. 10% from pine. The content of wood chips makes the surface of the so-called spruce pipes slightly rough. It has the same properties as conventional polyethylene pipes in terms of barrier function, decorative design, food safety or recyclability. The pine wood used comes from EU-certified forests, and the wood fibers come from waste wood chips from German carpentry workshops.

UPM Raflatac is using Sabic-certified round polypropylene polymers to produce a new label material designed to make a small contribution to solving the problem of plastic litter in the oceans. This ocean plastic is collected and turned into pyrolysis oil in a special recycling process. Sabic uses this oil as an alternative feedstock for the production of certified round polypropylene polymers, which are then processed into foils from which UPM Raflatac manufactures new label materials. It is certified under the requirements of the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification Scheme (ISCC). Since Sabic Certified Round Polypropylene is of the same quality as its freshly made mineral oil counterpart, no changes to the foil and label material production process are required.

Use once and throw away is the fate of most beauty and body care packages. Many manufacturers are trying to solve this problem with filling systems. They help replace single-use packaging by reducing packaging materials as well as shipping and logistics costs. Such filling systems are already common in many countries. In Japan, buying liquid soaps, shampoos, and household cleaners in thin foil bags and pouring them into dispensers at home, or using specialty accessories to turn refills into ready-to-use primary packs, has become part of everyday life.

However, reusable solutions are more than just reusable refill packs. Pharmacies and supermarkets are already testing gas stations and experimenting with how customers will accept body care products, detergents, detergents and dishwashing liquids that can be poured from the tap. You can bring the container with you or buy it in the store. There are also specific plans for a first deposit system for cosmetic packaging. It aims to collaborate between packaging and brand manufacturers and waste collectors: some collect used cosmetic packaging, others recycle it, and the recycled packaging is then turned into new packaging by other partners.

More and more forms of personalization and a large number of new cosmetic products are placing ever higher demands on filling. Rationator Machinery Company specializes in modular filling lines, such as combining the Robomat filling line with the Robocap capper to automatically install various closures, such as screw caps, push caps, or spray pump and dispenser, cosmetics on a bottle bottle. The new generation of machines is also focused on the sustainable and efficient use of energy.

The Marchesini Group also sees a growing share of its turnover in the growing cosmetics industry. The group’s beauty division can now use its machines to cover the entire cosmetics production cycle. The new model also uses environmentally friendly materials for packaging cosmetics. For example, machines for packaging products in cardboard trays, or thermoforming and blister packaging machines for the production of blisters and trays from PLA or rPET, or stick packaging lines using 100% recycled plastic monomer material.

Flexibility is required. people has recently developed a complete bottle filling system for a cosmetics manufacturer that covers various shapes. The respective product portfolios currently cover eleven different fillers with a wide range of viscosities to be filled into five plastic and two glass bottles. One mold can also contain up to three separate components, such as a bottle, a pump, and a closure cap. The new system integrates the entire bottling and packaging process into one production line. By directly following these steps, plastic and glass bottles are washed, accurately filled, capped and packaged in pre-glued folding boxes with automatic side loading. The high requirements for the integrity and integrity of the product and its packaging are met by installing multiple camera systems that can check the product at various stages of the process and discard them as needed without interrupting the packaging process.

The basis for this particularly simple and economical format change is the 3D printing of the Schubert “Partbox” platform. This allows cosmetics manufacturers to produce their own spare parts or new format parts. Thus, with few exceptions, all interchangeable parts can be easily reproduced. This includes, for example, pipette holders and container trays.

Cosmetic packaging can be very small. For example, lip balm doesn’t have as much surface area, but it still needs to be declared. Handling these small products for optimal print alignment can quickly become a problem. Declaration specialist Bluhm Systeme has developed a special system for labeling and printing very small cosmetic products. The new Geset 700 labeling system consists of a label dispenser, a laser marking machine and the corresponding transfer technology. The system can label up to 150 cylindrical cosmetics per minute using pre-printed labels and individual lot numbers. The new system reliably transports small cylindrical products throughout the marking process: a vibrating belt transports the vertical rods to the product turner, which turns them 90 degrees with a screw. In the lying position, the products pass through the so-called prismatic rollers, which transport them through the system at a predetermined distance from each other. To ensure traceability, lipstick pencils must receive individual batch information. The laser marking machine adds this data to the label before it is sent by the dispenser. For security reasons, the camera checks the printed information immediately.

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