At LUXE PACK: Sustainability Becomes More Sustainable
THE BEST INTENTIONS are still answerable to profit and what’s realistic. We went to the LUXE PACK New York last week to see how those intentions are evolving in the world of packaging.
What’s finally emerging is true sustainability and a fresh approach to refillable packages that moves beyond their money-saving marketing concept.
Panelists addressed the role of sustainability as a marketing tool while still emphasizing value in a session, “Packaging-Led Growth, Demand-Driven Design.” The big take-away: Today’s packaging needs relevance by design that fits with the channel strategy.
“It needs a compelling hook, you take a risk when changing a format,” observed Rebecca Zhou, CEO of skin care maker Soft Services. She explained on how her brand’s refillable cold cream jar has the aesthetics of a high-end candle. “It can’t be branded as it’s in a bedroom. That’s a risk we took and it paid off.”
Refillable risks
The history of refillable packaging has been marked by mixed success. Economy-minded shoppers mainly bought the refills and seldom the base. A frustrating issue for consumers was how often the pump mechanism would break after just a few refills.
Soft Services focuses on sustainability through a "refill-first" approach for its products, utilizing reusable components for packaging to minimize plastic waste. They prioritize FSC-certified paper and aluminum for recyclability, though they acknowledge challenges with certain petrochemical-based ingredients.
Zhou enumerated five key sustainability initiatives by Soft Services:
- Refill and Reuse. Customers are encouraged to keep high-use components, such as the Locking Pump and Fine Mister, for future refills.
- Sustainable Packaging. Products use post-consumer resins (PCR) for plastics and uncoated paper to ensure high recyclability.
- Waste Reduction. The brand focuses on "elastic branding" to avoid over-packaging and uses minimal materials in shipping, encouraging customers to recycle all components.
- Transparency. They acknowledge that some, but not all, packaging is recyclable, providing specific instructions for proper disposal of pumps and bottles.
- Sustainable Ingredients. They aim to minimize environmental impact while acknowledging challenges in eliminating all petrochemical-based or palm oil-derived ingredients.
Jessica Snell, VP of R&D at Papatui, spoke about how founder Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson (aka, “DJ” around the office,) focuses on sustainability through clean formulations, eco-friendly packaging, and ethical sourcing, aiming for a balance between performance, skin health, and environmental responsibility. They use recyclable materials to reduce environmental impact. “DJ” also insists the package is still usable for larger hands, with a cap large and shaped so the container is easily closed.
Pouch innovation
Lear Brace, Director of Product Development at OneSkin, described her company’s dispenser with a refillable pouch. The challenge was to make it airtight, as the peptides used in its formulation can degrade in the presence of oxygen. This allowed for two issues to be answered: 1) The pouch protects the lotion. 2) An upgraded dispenser was attached to keep the product airtight, and remain functional longer.
OneSkin focuses on sustainability through plastic-neutral certification, offering refillable packaging for major products (face, eye, prep, body), and using eco-friendly materials to reduce carbon footprints, she said.
“A different challenge to sustainability is today’s need to be fast to market ” said Ted Taitt, director of global packaging operations at Kenvue. “With speed, comes more risk.”
He emphasized, “Kenvue is committed to enhancing consumer experience in a more sustainable way by minimizing our plastic footprint and implementing circular solutions to keep materials in use.”
On the exhibit floor numerous vendors offered packaging solutions based on these concepts. Today’s consumer cares about sustainability, They also demand something functional and attractive.
