Royal DSM, a global purpose-led science-based company, today announces its partnership with Albéa, the world’s leading cosmetic packaging supplier, to bring sustainable packaging for its sun care formulation prototypes and achieve its vision of delivering a fully sustainable sun care offering to customers.

The move toward more sustainable beauty and personal care products is nothing new. But increasingly, consumers searching for planet-friendly options are expanding this scope to include packaging as well, looking at what’s in the bottle and at the bottle itself to make informed and responsible choices. According to a recent study from Mintel, 83% of Malaysian adults would like to see more innovative sustainability ideas from big beauty brands, while over half of German adults believe that eco-friendly packaging for grooming and beauty products are plastic-free. In addition, rising consumer concern about packaging safety and ease of use is fuelling demand for contamination-free packaging that can help deliver peace of mind to consumers. Given that the cosmetics industry produces more than 120 billion units of packaging annually¹ , the opportunity to have a positive impact on the planet through progress in more sustainable packaging is tremendous.

Two companies, one commitment to a sustainable value chain

The partnership between DSM and Albéa is another key step in making personal care more sustainable and aligned with both companies’ commitment to sustainable practices. Thanks to the partnership, DSM can provide customers with a complete sustainable solution in sun care. As a first step, DSM plans to move most of its sun care formulation prototypes into tubes, known to be the product form and packaging format that delivers the most significant sustainability impact as well as safety and hygiene benefits. In addition to protecting from microbial contamination, the tubes also deliver on cost of performance with minimum product loss (versus spray formulations, for example) and provide the use of use for consumers.

Albéa’s tube used in DSM’s formulation prototypes reflects the innovations to offer packaging solutions that are safe and have a lower environmental impact. The tube combines the 3Rs: recycled content, recyclable ready and reduced weight. Albéa’s tube is composed of the light eco-design looking SLIM cap combined with the downgauged web leveraging the unique Thin-Wall™ technology for a reduced weight solution. This recyclable-ready tube in the current recycling streams also incorporates a maximum level of Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) content, the tube reaching 38% of PCR (62% excluding the cap) for a tube D35, 50ml thus participating to moving towards a circular economy.

Fully leveraging Albéa’s broad capabilities, the partnership will also explore the wide variety of sustainable packaging materials solutions.

Bringing innovation to customers and to the market

DSM’s commitment to advancing innovation in sustainable sun care is reflected in both its products and services. The company recently launched PARSOL® EHT, a highly efficient, eco-friendly UVB filter that embodies the vision for DSM’s future-proof, eco-friendly portfolio. DSM also offers to the industry its free online formulation tool, DSM SUNSCREEN OPTIMIZER®, which now includes a feature that supports customers with real-time Eco-classification and ranking for formulations in development and on the market. It’s paired with a color-coded Eco-classification (from A-G) that’s consumer-friendly and easy to understand.

These strengths come together in the ready-to-go Featherlight Cream SPF 50 guide formulation, designed by DSM’s formulators and featuring the new PARSOL® EHT UV filter. Combining fast absorption and a silky touch with high protection into the blue light range, this formulation also comes with an Eco-class A rating and is already available in the new responsible tube packaging from Albéa.

Every step matters to realize a sustainable future

“Both customers and consumers are looking for a commitment to sustainability throughout the value chain. To make our offering more sustainable, we need to work together and strive to introduce sustainable practices at every stage and in every area of our operations,” says Gaelle Bathany, Global Director Sustainability DSM Personal Care and Aroma Ingredients. “This requires shifting our mindset as well as taking many small but thoughtful steps in the right direction, such as formalizing our partnership with Albéa. They share our broader commitment to driving sustainable practices in this sector by developing tools and services that help customers minimize their environmental footprint.”

Caroline Hughes, Head of Marketing, Albéa Tubes, comments: “We are rethinking packaging to make it circular, low-environmental impact, and safe. This step change requires collaboration across the value chain – as illustrated by this partnership between DSM and Albéa. The two leaders combine their expertise, mindset, innovation capabilities as well as social and environmental responsibility so that beauty & personal care brands can ultimately deliver on their own commitments to their stakeholders.”

¹ “The Future of Sustainable Packaging,” August 2021