Loop Industries, Garnier Recycle PET into rPET Bottles via Repolymerization
20,000 100% recycled and recyclable rPET bottles showcase how nonrecycled PET waste can be repolymerized to support plastics circularity.
Beauty brand Garnier launched a limited-edition recycled PET (rPET) bottle, made from nonrecyclable plastic waste, for Micellar Cleansing Water All-In-1 cleanser. Loop Industries supplied the rPET resin for the bottles.
Terrebonne, Quebec-based Loop used its Infinite Loop technology to produce the resin. Loop depolymerizes PET waste — specifically, plastic that cannot be recycled using conventional recycling processes, and low-value waste such as colored and opaque PET bottles — using low heat without added pressure.
The company then repolymerizes the monomers into 100% recycled, virgin-quality PET resin suitable for food-grade packaging and polyester-fiber applications. Post-consumer packaging made from the material, if sorted correctly, is infinitely recyclable, according to Loop.
A key benefit of making PET from nonrecyclable waste is prevention of the waste in landfills, the ocean, and incinerators. A further benefit is plastics circularity, via post-consumer recycling.
Advanced recycling via repolymerization of nonrecycled PET creates 20,000 new rPET bottles.
The Micellar Cleansing Water bottles launched in April 2023 in the US, Garnier’s largest market, and in France, its home market.
In all, “20,000 Garnier x Loop Micellar Water bottles were produced for this limited-edition launch,” a Loop spokesperson tells us. The Loop bottles will be available while quantities last.
Loop Industries’ Terrebonne production facility supplied the rPET for Garnier’s limited-edition bottles, which were molded in Poland and filled in Garnier’s Warsaw plant.
A Garnier spokesperson reports that the bottle’s closure is currently polypropylene (PP), but “we are working on the rollout of a cap made of recycled PP on Micellar Cleansing Waters.”
For consumer messaging, the front of the limited-edition Garnier bottles displays Loop’s logo, together with language explaining the bottle is made with 100% recycled PET.
Garnier is “consistently working towards concrete actions to become a more sustainable beauty brand. We are proud to be working with Loop Industries to launch the first Garnier Micellar Water bottle made of previously unrecyclable PET plastic waste,” says Adrien Koskas, Garnier’s global brand president.
“This technology has the potential to change the game when it comes to recycling, and our partnership demonstrates our continued efforts to bring to market more environmentally friendly packaging, as part of our bold commitment to encourage plastic circularity,” Koskas adds.
Although the limited-edition packaging is the first Garnier bottle to be made from previously nonrecyclable plastic, it’s not the first recycled PET package for this product. Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water bottles are already made of 100% recycled plastic in Europe and will be coming soon to the US.
Garnier reports that it avoided using 12,200 tons of virgin plastic in 2021, thanks to the use of recycled plastic. The same year, 31% of Garnier’s annual plastic consumption was recycled plastic.
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