Lumene says it’s enhancing circularity beyond formulations by changing all 50-milliliter moisturizer jars in its core product ranges to this new biobased alternative, in 1.5 million jars annually.

The beauty brand is reportedly among the first beauty brands to launch a biobased packaging application with both the jar and the labels made of innovative wood-based side stream material.

Recycled Plastic Goals for 2025

“At Lumene, we constantly invest in novelty technologies to improve sustainability of our packaging,” said Essi Arola, head of R&D, packaging and sustainability at Lumene. “This new 97% biobased jar is one option to reduce the use of fossil-based plastic. By 2025, our target is to have 80% of our plastic packaging made of recycled plastic or renewable raw materials. We continue to do research and develop of various new packaging material options.”

The new biobased jar is made of side streams of Finnish forest industry. Tall oil, a side stream material of pulp manufacturing, is used to produce biobased feedstock, which is the raw material for plastic production. When fossil-based plastic is replaced by biobased plastic, the carbon dioxide emissions of the pack are reduced significantly.

The jar is also fully recyclable in PP stream. The project is carried out in cooperation with UPM Biofuels and the biopolymer producer SABIC, the producer of the certified renewable polymers. The new biobased solution is based on a mass balance approach with a fully certified value chain (ISCC Plus certification).

The new biobased jar is currently available with Nordic-C [Valo] moisturizers.