The fashion industry must rethink everything from e-commerce packaging to how clothes are displayed in stores, while cosmetic packaging must be reusable or compostable – or indeed verifiable recyclable – in a comprehensive new California bill limiting the potential expansion of single-use use. use plastics in the United States.
Heidi Sanborn, founder and executive director of the National Trusteeship Committee (NSAC), which helped develop the bill, said there is still a lot of work to be done in fashion and beauty. The law requires changes to all packaging, from e-commerce to single-use plastic bags used to ship clothing from manufacturers to distributors, as well as niche forms of packaging such as plastic wrap and collar braces to be replaced with reusable versions used or redesign the system to completely eliminate them.
After Sanborn took over major industries such as pharmaceuticals and commissioned them to make needles and packaging, Sanborn says fashion is next. “They are very wasteful and they are under the gun,” she said. She added that the bill is gaining momentum outside of California, and she expects some states to implement similar laws, though she wouldn’t say which ones. “The sponsors of the bill should make it public when it is ready.”
The beauty industry will have to take serious action. All packaging – cosmetics, skin care products, lotions, shampoos, etc. – must be made from recycled plastic with a high percentage of content and be recyclable (in accordance with the standards set by the California Legislature in the past year), compostable or recyclable reusable packaging system. Some brands have begun to experiment with reusable products, but they are far from the accepted reality. This means that the aesthetic or design features of plastic packaging may change, as many plastics are virtually, but not completely, recyclable.
Credo champions in sustainable packaging include MOB Beauty and Bite Beauty, which make reusable products, as well as plastic-free Common Heir.
“One of the things that slows down the recycling rate of this type of plastic is the pollution in the waste stream from other plastics and the design of those materials. Really bright plastics are harder,” said Anya Brandon, US plastics policy analyst. non-profit organization Ocean Conservancy. Recycle them the same way you label them.
Senate Bill 54 (SB 54), passed in June, is the nation’s most comprehensive plastics legislation, targeting one of the consumer industry’s dirtiest secrets: theoretically, there is very little plastic that can be recycled. Scientists estimate that 9% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled. It comes in too many different forms, with different ingredients and additives optimized for short-term use rather than reuse. Even if a plastic is technically recyclable, its success is limited by many factors and conditions, such as regional recycling practices, misleading symbols, and the status of discarded plastic.
SB 54 will require manufacturers selling, distributing, or importing in California, for all products to customers in the state, to reduce their use of single-use plastic packaging by at least 25% by 2032, 10% of which cannot simply be replaced with other material. which means that the overall packing should be reduced. Another important feature of the legislation is who pays for what needs to happen to make it work as intended: companies bringing single-use packaging to market must be financially responsible for its entire life cycle, including the costs associated with improving infrastructure. processed products are actually processed. Plastic resin manufacturers that sell materials subject to the law will be required to contribute to the newly created California Plastic Pollution Mitigation Fund, which authorizes the California Department of Restoration and Recycling to impose fines of up to $50,000 per day for each violation. Companies that don’t follow the rules, these fines go to another fund, the Circular Economy Penalty Account. The bill also creates a Producer Responsibility Group, “which is like a big non-profit that all these manufacturers are going to join,” Brandon explained. “This organization is like a compliance mechanism that does all of those tasks in the Act.”
Some critics and supporters of the bill are focusing too much on improving the recycling system and not doing enough to eliminate disposable products that they would rather replace with reusable systems. However, it is the most aggressive legislation of its kind.
Credo has released a reusable travel tin made from recycled green tea fiber after completing a dye-free and coating-free sampling program. Retailers invite customers to use it to try new products.
“In dark times, this seems like a really bright place,” said Mia Davis, vice president of sustainability and impact at clean cosmetics store Credo and a supporter of the bill. “I’m not saying it’s perfect, but it seems like a lot of the very strong ideas in this bill are grounded in reality. I think this is something we should be proud of, something to focus on and hopefully emulate in other states.”
Some types of packaging will require more significant changes. Cosmetic boxes, for example, should be reusable or compostable, unless companies are going to pick up the packaging and take responsibility for recycling, NSAC’s Sanborn said. Samples of products will become another problem: making a recyclable version of the disposable bags that are common in the beauty industry today is almost impossible.
“A low-hanging fruit and a very good early-stage investment opportunity is the repurposing and replenishment of infrastructure and technology,” Brandon said. “The industry will take some time and transition to figure out how to actually use the system, but I think consumers are ready. I think there’s interest and I think it makes financial sense for a lot of products. We’re paying money.” . transports water. Water is very heavy and very expensive to transport.”
There are players ready to help brands reconfigure their operations to move away from some critical single-use plastic uses. According to Mike Newman, CEO of California-based Returnity, brands are becoming more interested in finding alternatives to single-use packaging. While brands are already looking into reuse options, he said, “What this does is add energy and urgency to the work. While retailers may initially prioritize issuing press releases about their project reuse plans,” Easily get started,” but regulations like SB 54 encourage them to refocus on more integrated, cost-effective, and scalable projects.”
California-based Boox has launched a new service that “points almost directly to SB54″ and CEO Matt Semmelhak said the company plans to ship 1.3 million boxes of Boox in 2022, up from about 1.5 million in the first year of 2021. 100,000,” Semmelhak said. He invites brands to return Boox shippers and inner packaging materials for reuse. “Over time, this will lead e-commerce brands to move towards reusable products, not just for external vendors like Boox, but for any kind of internal packaging materials, clothing bags, etc.”
Reorienting businesses towards reuse is also more likely to avoid unforeseen consequences, such as “producers looking for other raw materials, such as cutting down trees to comply with the guidelines set out in the law,” he said. “We will need to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, not just ‘go out’ by making things more recyclable or compostable.”
He added that the replenishment and reuse system could also pay dividends for the business. “Brands can make the return process an additional offline post-purchase touchpoint that leads to sales, retention, loyalty and more—all key elements that consumer-facing brands need.”
Brands already focusing on reducing plastic use welcomed the bill. Everlane says it has eliminated 90 percent of virgin and single-use plastic from its supply chain by switching to recycled plastic bags and recycled fibers in clothing, among other changes, said brand sustainability director Katina Butis. They are working on the rest. . “We hope Senate Bill 54 will support us in developing solutions for the last 10 percent of our targets, namely trim and elastane, spurring much-needed recycling innovation,” she said. “Most of the remaining primary plastics in these areas will require material innovations that are not currently available on a large scale.”
Some companies have found alternatives or ways to avoid the use of some common waste generating products. Hailey Bieber’s cosmetics brand Rhode, which launched in June, is not offering samples, according to marketing director Claudia Allwood.
Credo will no longer use all single-use plastic in 2020, including sample packs and other items, including face masks. “Even if we only use it for a few seconds, this item can be used for hundreds of years,” Davis said. They now have a plastic-free, recycled travel tin that encourages customers to refill it when they want to try something new. But finding a sustainable way to sample products isn’t just about the material itself, Davies says.
Hailey Bieber’s cosmetics brand Rhode, which launched in June, comes with refillable Boox postage and won’t ship until there’s a “responsible” way to provide sample samples.
“We don’t even have solid data on their ROI. We’ve been told we have to do this to discover, we have to do this to let customers know there’s something new. Why can’t we think of another way to do it a little “Why can’t we talk to clients more individually or as a concierge? Why can’t we just fill in?”
Supporters of the bill hope that it will have such an ambitious and wide-ranging impact. Not only do they want to reduce the impact of single-use packaging, but they also want to initiate a rethinking of single-use culture, from the mindset of individual consumers to business operations and public infrastructure. According to Brandon, recycling works best when the incoming plastic is as homogeneous as possible, which is the opposite of what brands typically look for in packaging, which is their primary place to promote their brand and differentiate their products. That’s why she sees opportunities for new ideas and innovation.
“A little-known fact is that the industry is really good at selling things to us. So I think there will be a lot of really unique and innovative ideas.”
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Post time: Oct-21-2022