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Cosmetics are on deposit

2020-09-24T09:51:53.900Z


FIGARO DEMAIN - From confidential start-ups to mass distribution, returnable containers cross the borders of food and enter the world of hygiene and beauty.


While the deposit of plastic bottles was the subject of a heated debate between the government and industry at the start of the year, the recovery of used containers is a stain outside the agri-food sector.

This is particularly the case in cosmetics.

Two brands of natural deodorants even make it their trademark, excluding any other type of packaging: Endro, which blew out its first candle in June and Les Enfants sauvage, which has just raised funds for Ulule.

A

"system more profitable than the use of disposable containers"

, assures Boris Le Goffic, co-founder of Endro, who observes a "

real demand from consumers"

.

Identical observation for Oolution which in 2019 set up a deposit system:

"Our biggest success since our beginnings",

recalls Adèle Baraban, chemical engineer and marketing manager at Oolution.

“Prepaid envelopes”

slipped into each online order - or 90% of sales - allow returns.

“Between 10 and 20 envelopes come back to us every day, that is to say 50% of our sales,”

explains the communications manager.

A more expensive system than collection in shops, since the cost of returning

"represents 6 to 25% of the price of the product".

“It's an assumed expense.

Our priority is to control the end of life of our products ”,

pleads Adèle Baraban.

Reusable containers are repackaged.

The others are sent to Terracycle, a company specializing in recycling waste that is difficult to recycle.

The deposit is also emerging in mass distribution with Loop, an e-commerce platform launched by Terracycle in May 2019, where products are sold whose packaging is reusable.

“We have more than 150 partner companies, including Unilever, Nivea and Procter & Gamble,”

says Blandine Surry, CEO of Loop Europe.

The Hexagon

"is a particularly interesting market, because French consumers are primarily looking for products whose impact is positive on their health and on the planet",

indicates a spokesperson for Procter & Gamble.

Read also:

Launch of Loop, the zero waste e-commerce site

To be eligible for the partnership, the packaging must be able to withstand

“more than ten cycles”,

be

“cleanable in industrial conditions”

and

“recyclable at the end of its life”,

lists Blandine Surry.

This time, the deposit costs

"between 50 cents and 2 euros per product",

which allows Loop to record 90% returns.

What about the environmental impact?

Is the transport and cleaning of the lockers really less harmful for the planet than the use of disposable packaging?

“Yes”,

Loop, Endro and Oolution chorus.

“The environmental impact of a product lies above all in the creation of its packaging and its end of life.

Transport comes only third.

The routing and cleaning of the containers are not sufficient to jeopardize the benefits of reuse, ”

says Blandine Surry.

The Ecological Transition Agency (Ademe) indicated that it was conducting an environmental assessment of the bulk distribution system against prepackaged products, the results of which should be published at the end of summer 2021.

Calendar of plastic bans in France

January 1, 2020

Plastic cups, plates and cotton swabs.

January 1, 2021

Straws, disposable cutlery, stirrers, lids for take-out cups, polystyrene containers (such as kebab boxes), steak sticks, balloon stems, plastic confetti, oxo-degradable plastic objects (degrading under the effect of heat or ultraviolet radiation).

Free distribution of plastic bottles in establishments open to the public (ERP) and professional premises.

January 1, 2022

Tea bags and plastic toys distributed free of charge at fast food outlets.

Plastic overwrap for fruits and vegetables weighing less than 1.5 kg.

January 1, 2023

Disposable tableware for meals served on site in fast food.

January 1, 2024

Medical devices containing microplastics (particles less than 5 millimeters in size).

January 1, 2025

All new washing machines must be fitted with a plastic microfiber filter.

January 1, 2026

Rinse-off cosmetics containing microplastics, such as shampoos, coloring products, shower gels or makeup removers.

Source: lefigaro

All business articles on 2020-09-24

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