L'Oréal strives to make its recycled glass as good as new for skin care brand

23-May-2011 - Last updated on 24-May-2011 at 09:06 GMT

Garnier and Gerresheimer have teamed up in an attempt to combine expertise to ensure the quality of recycled glass used in products is just as good and is just as transparent as new glass.

The German packaging firm and the L'Oréal brand will work together to develop a cosmetic packaging glass containing 40 percent recycled glass.

Garnier claims it is the first brand manufacturer in the skin care market segment to introduce glass jars for products containing 40 percent recycled glass, which were developed in collaboration with Gerresheimer.

According to the beauty brand, the high quality of the glass is achieved by using cleanly segregated and high quality cullet.

Sustainable concept

Garnier claims the new concept is sustainable because the use of 40 percent recycled glass reduces production energy requirements by 9 percent. This lower melting furnace energy requirement reduces CO2 emissions during the production process by 29 tons.

The new jar concept was presented by Gerresheimer to an international audience at Luxe pack New York last week.

The use of recycled glass in the jars also means that fewer non-renewable natural resources are consumed. The glass is made from quartz sand, soda and limestone, plus dolomite, feldspar, potash and metal ions to colour it.

L'Oréal achieving sustainability recognition

At the start of the month L'Oréal was recognised for its innovative reporting on sustainable development at the 10th Responsible Business Summit, by Ethical Corporation, an organisation that promotes debate and discussion about corporate social responsibility.

L'Oréal has made a firm commitment to sustainable growth and to demonstrating measurable progress in sustainable development. The award recognises the group's ability to communicate its achievements in sustainable development.

The group published its first Sustainable Development report in 2004. In 2010, L'Oréal decided to make the report more widely available.

"This award acknowledges the reporting strategy that L'Oréal started implementing 2 years ago and the commitment of our employees", said Francis Quinn, L'Oréal sustainable development director.