Launched biodegradable makeup packaging
The group's RPC Cresstale is the first company to introduce 100% biodegradable lipstick to the society. As its packaging uses pure natural ingredients, it is one of the major breakthroughs in polymer development.
The company said that since the successful development of a degradable small package, this is a new type of lipstick developed using the same technology. This series is available for a variety of different makeup products. At the same time, as the product conforms to the market's general trend of pursuing natural and environmentally friendly products, this product development will be more and more widely applied to various products.
In recent years, the natural cosmetics market has continued to expand, and its growth rate is much higher than the average growth rate of European industries in the past four years, and has maintained a good momentum of development in the relatively mature and saturated market of cosmetics and care products. Between 2002 and 2005, the UK's natural cosmetics market alone grew by nearly 20%. In line with this trend, the packaging industry has begun to gradually become natural. Because the product formula is safe and healthy, consumers also prefer the same packaging materials to coordinate with it.
The company is one of the best examples of how to adapt to this trend. The company successfully launched the first pilot biodegradable packaging materials, and is now ready to invest in production. This package uses PHA, a polymeric material that is extracted from organic sugars and oils and decomposed and degraded in soil, composting, waste treatment, river water and marine environments. RPC's degradation of this packaging material is only carbon dioxide and water, and carbon dioxide and water are the main materials for forming substances. Therefore, this process means that the biological cycle of this packaging material is basically closed. At the same time, the PHA of this polymer has a smaller "production window", making it easier to produce and less expensive. In addition, such polymers are more resistant to heat than the generally common PLA polymeric materials. RPC said this proves that PHA is more suitable for the cosmetic packaging market.
The lipstick is produced using RPC's patented "Revolve" mechanism using a collar tower. This allows the lipstick (including its decorative outer casing and bottom) to be completed using the same material in four molds instead of the traditional five molds and complex procedures with different materials.
John Birkett, company project manager, said, “We still need a large number of mold-making experts to deal with a series of unknown problems that may arise in the production of this innovative new material, but there is no doubt that the successful application of PHA materials shows : Completely degradable cosmetic packaging can be a reality."
Information: Characteristics of biodegradable materials
The most ideal biodegradable material should be a renewable material, that is, a biomaterial obtained by biosynthesis. This biomaterial should be reusable by organisms to degrade, and the product is preferably carbon dioxide and water, so that the production and use of this material is incorporated into the natural cycle. Contemporary biomaterials are the fastest growing in the field of producing biomaterials from renewable resources. In recent years, the worldwide shortage of oil supply, coupled with the non-degradable white pollution caused by the chemical synthesis of petroleum-based plastics, has led to a rapid increase in the pace of sustainable biosynthetics from renewable sources. Among the many biological materials, bio-synthesized polylactic acid (PLA) is a semi-natural biomaterial, and bio-synthesized polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is a typical natural biomaterial, because of its good performance and at the same time With the application characteristics of bioengineering materials and biomedical materials, it has become the most active two biological materials in recent years.
Polylactic acid is a polymer obtained by artificial chemical synthesis of lactic acid produced by biological fermentation, but still maintains good biocompatibility and biodegradability, has similar permeability to polyester, and has polyphenylene. Similar gloss, light transmission and processability of ethylene. Therefore, polylactic acid can be processed into various packaging materials, plastic profiles and films for agriculture and construction, as well as non-woven fabrics and polyester fibers for chemical and textile industries. In addition to being a packaging material, PLA has become one of the research hotspots in drug packaging materials and tissue engineering materials in recent years. PLA can be made into a tissue-engineered scaffold material that is non-toxic and can be attached to cells. The scaffold can form a porous structure for cell growth and transport nutrition, and can provide suitable mechanical strength and geometry for supporting and guiding cell growth. The disadvantage is the lack of ability to selectively interact with cells. PLA is widely used in biomedical materials, can be used for medical sutures (no need to remove wires), drug controlled release carriers (reduced dosing times and doses), orthopedic internal fixation materials (avoiding secondary surgery), tissue engineering Brackets, etc. PLA is the earliest biodegradable and biocompatible polyester developed.
The biopolymer material, the polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), which has been rapidly developed in the past two decades, is an intracellular polyester that can be synthesized by many microorganisms and is a natural polymer biomaterial. Compared with biological materials such as PLA, PGA and PLGA, the PHA structure is diversified, and the diversification of the compositional diversity brings obvious advantages in application. Because PHA has good biocompatibility, biodegradability and hot processing properties of plastics, it can be used as biomedical materials and biodegradable packaging materials, and has become the most active research hotspot in the field of biomaterials. PHA also has many high value-added properties such as nonlinear optical activity, piezoelectricity, and gas phase separation. It is precisely because PHA brings together these excellent properties that it can be used in packaging materials, bonding materials, spray materials and clothing materials, appliance materials, electronic products, consumer durables, agricultural products, and automation products in addition to medical biomaterials. Wide range of applications such as chemical media and solvents.