In recent years, consumers and brands have started to wise up when it comes to the detrimental impact of packaging on our planet. As the global beauty industry produces over 120 million units of packaging and contributes a significant amount of waste each year, it’s important that packaging developers start to think seriously about sustainable production.
Although many beauty products need to be housed in protecting packaging for the sake of hygiene and safety, we do have control over the materials we use to create each piece of packaging. In this article, we’ll be discussing some of the materials that should be eliminated: ABS and PETG.
What are ABS and PETG?
PETG (also known as polyethylene terephthalate glycol or PET-G) in scientific terms is a thermoplastic polyester. It’s a material adapted from PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) that’s favored for its chemical resistance and durability. This material is used in a range of industries, particularly in packaging.
On the other hand, ABS (or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) is a type of plastic made from acrylonitrile, polystyrene, and butadiene. This material is widely used across a range of industries, from making Lego bricks to computer parts – also in the packaging industry.
What are the adverse effects of these materials?
One of the main issues around both of these materials is that they can take decades to break down, meaning they will be lying around in landfill sites across the globe along with huge amounts of other plastic waste that has been contributed by various industries.
It is possible to speed up the breakdown of PETG, but this involves the use of chemicals to break down polymer chains. Although this process does allow for the raw material to be recycled and used again, the process is intensive and not the most environmentally friendly.
ABS is plastic, which is one of the worse offenders when it comes to packaging waste. It’s a non-biodegradable material that can be potentially dangerous to our ecosystem if not disposed or recycled of correctly.
Alternative packaging solutions for beauty and household products
Packaging development has come a long way since a few decades ago when plastic was the only reasonable option. With plenty of eco-friendly materials now on the market, there isn’t much need for any company to choose ABS or PETG packaging for their next product launch.
Find out more about the alternative packaging solutions we offer for beauty and household products at APG.