Netherlands-based renewable chemistry company Avantium N.V. has entered into an agreement with luxury goods giant LVMH Group to explore the potential of Avantium’s PEF (polyethylene furanoate) for use as a sustainable packaging solution for LVMH beauty brands.
“LVMH Beauty is always looking for sustainable materials with superior performance for our luxury products as part of our sustainability strategy,” said Claude Martinez Executive President and Managing Director, Beauty division of LVMH Group.
As a result, the Beauty division has therefore also decided that it will be joining the PEFerence consortium, as the first luxury cosmetic company to do so, said Martinez. He called the environmental and performance features of PEF ‘unique and very promising to meet our sustainable packaging goals’.
By joining the consortium, LVMH Group is further underlining its commitment to its “LIFE 360” - LVMH Initiative for the Environment - social and environmental strategy, which it unveiled last year. The strategy formulated three fundamental objectives aligned with precise targets for 2023, 2026 and 2030, of which one is a target of using zero plastic from virgin fossil feedstock by 2026. By 2030, 100% of the Group’s new products will result from ecodesign.
The PEFerence consortium, coordinated by Avantium, aims to replace a significant share of fossil-based polyesters with the novel, sustainable polymer PEF. PEF is a plant-based, highly recyclable plastic, with superior performance properties compared to today’s widely used petroleum-based packaging materials. Other members or the consortium include LEGO System AS, Henkel AG & Co. KGaA,, Spinverse Innovation Management Oy, Tereos Participations SAS, ALPLA Werke Alwin Lehner GmbH & Co. KG, nova-Institut für politische und ökologische Innovation GmbH, Nestec SA, Carlsberg Group, OMV Machinery Srl, Worley, Kebony AS and Avantium.
The decision to join the consortium demonstrates the importance of ‘our mutual work to develop packaging solutions for a circular and sustainable future’, said Avantium CEO, Tom van Aken. “We look forward continuing and expanding our collaboration with LVMH Beauty for many years to come.”