In an attempt to standardise and boost the use of post-consumer recyclates (PCR) in cosmetic product, personal care, and detergent packaging, CosPaTox, a German consortium focused on the intersection of Cosmetics, Packaging, and Toxicology, has developed voluntary safety evaluation guidance for its members to follow.
According to the consortium, the paucity of qualitatively acceptable recyclates represents the biggest obstacle to a faster introduction of recycled plastics for products from the consumer goods sector. To that end, CosPaTox embarked on a two-year project to develop the much-needed safety standards for high-quality PCR for cosmetics and other household packaging. The project also aimed to implement on-site measurement methods for recyclers.
CosPaTox conducted the project in collaboration with experts in post-consumer packaging waste recycling from the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, the University of Applied Sciences in Vienna, and Fabes Forschungs-GmbH for Analytic and Evaluation of Mass Transfer Processes.
The result is the new safety assessment guideline, which is specifically designed to provide more clarity regarding the safety profile of PCR materials. In this way, the guideline will support companies that have, until now, been hesitant about using PCR in their packaging applications.
The consortium undertook extensive analytical testing and toxicological evaluation in order to gain an understanding of the safety profile of PCR plastic materials made from PE, PP, and LDPE as packaging materials for cosmetic products, detergents, and home care products. Clear guidance to enable a holistic testing strategy as well as a safety assessment approach for recycled plastics has been developed, including the definition of three distinct plastic recyclate quality levels. The CosPaTox Consortium’s approach to enabling a robust safety assessment is technology agnostic, aimed at no specific collection, sorting, or recycling technology. The focus is solely on the quality of the recycled materials themselves. The safety assessment approach developed by the consortium can, therefore, be applied to any polyolefin recyclate, whether derived through a mechanical recycling, physical recycling, or chemical recycling process.
CosPaTox’s members comprise the entire packaging value chain, including polyolefin producers, recyclers, converters, equipment producers, additive suppliers, analytical laboratories, and brand owners.
By providing clear recommendations for the safe use of recycled plastic materials, even in the absence of food contact approvals, the CosPaTox Consortium’s work will help to boost the uptake of recycled materials in the packaging of cosmetic products and detergents, contributing to a more circular economy for plastics.