Ren Clean Skincare, a Unilever Prestige brand, has launched what it says is the market’s first airless bottle made entirely of recycled plastic.
Manufactured by Aptar, the plastic was chemically recycled and is food-grade compatible, which means it can comply with numerous different types of formulas.
Unlike mechanical recycling, which melts pre-sorted plastics, chemical recycling transforms the material back into its original monomer through a distillation or pyrolysis process resulting in a pure polymer that is “like new”. This also means that quality plastic can be obtained from fibers that were otherwise discarded or incinerated.
A number of plastic producers are currently investing in the technology. For the Ren Clean Skincare bottle, Saudi group Sabic produced the plastic from pyrolysis oil supplied by Plastic Energy. The plastic is injected at Aptar’s Villingen plant in Germany specialized in airless technology. Both Aptar and Sabic’s sites are ISCC (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification) certified.
Unilever intends to continue working with plastics regenerated by chemical recycling in a bid to supports its circular economy strategy.
Ren Clean Skincare, a prestige brand with a natural positioning, is aiming for zero waste by 2021 and has committed to implementing a circular recycling strategy.
