All About Our Switch to Sustainable PCR Cosmetics Packaging
They may say not to judge cosmetics by their packaging, but what if ours is both exquisite and good for the environment? This is the beauty of PCR Cosmetic Packaging, a modern and conscious take on makeup that lets you collect your favorite blushes, lip glosses, and other beauty items while showing kindness to the planet. Our mission at HAN Skincare Cosmetics includes a less wasteful approach to beauty, and PCR packaging is manufactured from recycled materials that has already gone through consumer use to show love to the planet. How do we make it the norm in the beauty world? Here’s what you need to know.
What is Post-Consumer Resin (PCR) Packaging?
You know the recycling centers that you’ve seen around town? They aren’t just a way to help the environment, but also the secret to more eco-friendly and sustainable beauty packaging. PCR (post-consumer resin) refers to plastic made only from recycled bottles, cans, and boxes. These plastics are then transformed into your favorite lip gloss bottles or blush compacts to create beautiful packaging that serves as an “endgame” for sustainability. How so? Since these packaging options are already made from recycled materials, they typically cannot be recycled again. Therefore, consumers need not worry about sending in their empty packages or palettes after use.
How is PCR made?
You know the countless water bottles you go through during the summer? They may just become the packaging for your new favorite lip gloss. Post-consumer resin is simply the technical term for previously recycled materials, which have been broken down into new pellets and used to create something new and beautiful. Like makeup-skincare hybrids from HAN Skincare Cosmetics, perhaps? Using previously recycled plastic leaves the environment with less waste and reduces our carbon footprint, leaving the planet a little more beautiful.
Why are we switching to PCR materials for some of our products?
It’s not just our cosmetics that need to be safe, non-toxic, and good for the environment… but also our packaging. HAN Skincare Cosmetics has a commitment to the betterment of our planet, and PCR is a safer way to use plastic than many brands have tried in the past. As we’ve told you in another blog, the process of using plastic in cosmetics is complicated. Only 9.5% of all plastic was recycled in 2014, while the rest ended up in landfills or converted into energy. Many plastics are not even recyclable! PCR ensures that only recycled materials are making their way into our packaging process, and takes the inconvenience out of sending in empty palettes or tubes for recycling.
Don’t get us wrong, we love when our HAN community helps us do good by recycling. That’s why we’ve partnered with Terracycle to let you send in your empty virgin material containers and watch them be melted down into new products. We definitely encourage this process forever and always, and now you can go one step further by only packaging HAN products made with PCR packaging.
Why does this matter to me?
Too much plastic is not good for the environment, plain and simple. And while you already help out by sending in empty tubes to your favorite brand recycling programs (like ours!) and recycling bottles, purchasing cosmetics made with only recycled materials takes it to a whole new level. This helps to ensure that less plastic ends up in landfills or in the ocean, with a bonus of letting you enjoy your favorite lip gloss guilt-free. HAN and other beauty brands are helping to start a movement with our PCR packaging, and your participation helps to encourage a demand for more sustainably packaged options.
It’s called the “snowball effect.” The more beauty brands that implement PCR packaging, means that more recycled plastics will end up in your makeup collection rather than a landfill. “Virgin plastic” will be in less demand and cause less harm to the environment, and you’ll know that you’re making a difference alongside your favorite brands. Sounds like a win-win to us! Don’t forget to write to your favorites asking them to use more PCR packaging as a sustainable alternative to virgin plastic, and share what other cosmetics companies already have this process in place so we can all make a difference.