Have you ever faced a challenge so critical that your company’s future depended on it? BellaCos found themselves in exactly that situation because of their packaging.

BellaCos (changing their name to protect their identity), a leading cosmetics company, hit a major roadblock. 

Under new European Union regulations, they needed to switch to carbon-negative packaging fast. 

Our client, Mark, the company’s R&D head, was overwhelmed, trying to figure out which sustainable solutions from various companies would actually work for them. The stakeholders were breathing down his neck, demanding a solid, cost-effective plan that would be compatible with the product. 

Failure could mean a hit to their reputation, losing market share, or worse – hefty fines. They had to get this right and fast.

Here’s how my team helped them find a solution:

Identifying Materials and Processes

We explored methods from different industries and found materials like sugarcane, corn, bamboo, and cork, along with CO2-absorbing processes. We ranked the solutions by impact and feasibility and gave clear recommendations for what to implement now and what to research further.

Evaluation and Analysis

We conducted a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to measure carbon emissions at each supply chain stage. Our analysis highlighted two key findings:

• Sugarcane: Widely used for carbon-negative packaging, absorbs -3.09 kg of CO2e/kg over its lifecycle.
• UBQ™ Materials: Converts municipal waste into thermoplastic, preventing methane emissions and achieving a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of -11.69 kg CO2-eq per kg of UBQ™ material.

You may have heard about the EU’s new  Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, which entered into force on 18 July 2024. It has raised many questions among our friends in the cosmetics industry about how it will impact their products.

If you’re unsure about the steps to make your product ESPR compliant or how to meet regional regulations, I can arrange a free discussion with one of our experts. Simply fill the form here and my team will get in touch with you.