Personal care and home care important, so why not adding them some care for the environment? Those products come in a huge range of plastic packaging that finds its way to the trash very quickly as it is single-use packaging. Moreover, most of this packaging is not easily recyclable. Polysack offers sustainable mono material films for packaging that are appealing, durable and sustainable!  

Personal care and home care products are always in demand. Specially in the past two years, when people were at home due to the corona and with extra free time to devote to home care and personal care. In fact, the personal care packaging market was valued at $27 billion USD in 2020, and is projected to reach $35 billion USD by 2026, with a CAGR of ~4.5%. The home care packaging market was valued at $29 USD billion in 2019 and is expected to reach $39 USD billion by 2026, with a CAGR of ~5%.

Very large as well as small and medium-sized companies operate in these fields, competing for end user attention. One of the ways for a company to differentiate itself from the competition and attract attention is to invest in packaging design. This investment is not always accompanied by end-of-life recycling considerations.

This concerns anyone who care about the environment and about the limited resources of earth. Packaging waste of those products is especially massive, and most of it is single-use. From shampoo and conditioner bottles to cosmetics and cleaning product packaging – this amounts to a very large quantities of plastic, most of it polyolefins, that find their way to the trash. Even if consumers dispose this packaging in designated recycling bins, it is not always recyclable. This is mainly due to packaging requirements that often require the use of several polymers that will provide barrier properties and certain mechanical properties. If separating the various polymer layers is not possible – optimal recycling is not possible.

What are the requirements of household product and personal care packaging?

Customary packaging requires barrier properties against oxygen, moisture and various odors. At the same time, the packaging must be easy to print on in order to create attractive shelf appeal. Some packaging must also be easy to open in order to easily pull out a wet wipe or extract a certain preparation. In case of liquid products, they must have a snap top or a screw cap.

When it comes to detergents and home care products, mechanical properties and chemical durability are also a factor in addition to barrier properties. Certain packaging must be able to hold a large quantity of the product and withstand the mechanical load, while also delivering durability for a product containing acidic or alkaline substances. In this case children’s safety is important, such that the packaging must be child-resistant.

All these requirements are important. However, another and no less important requirement is demanded by brand owners and end consumers as well as governments promoting environmental regulation – the demand for sustainable and recyclable packaging. In other words, packaging that will also take into account the environment alongside other considerations.

The right home care packaging solution

Polysack specializes in the production of flexible films for a range of packaging solutions. Our films are unique owing to Machine Direction Orientation (MDO) technology. This technology, that is employed during the film production process, can provide mechanical and barrier properties to a film that is made of one polymer, polyethylene, as if it were a multi-layer film made of several different polymers. This film enables the manufacture of mono material packaging, and is therefore easily recyclable in the recycling stream for polyolefins, without the need to separate the different polymers.

Pack ‘N’ Cycle LC and Pack ‘N’ Cycle EL are among the leading Polysack flexible packaging products for the home care and personal care packaging sector, which provide both high heat resistance and elasticity. Pack ‘N’ Cycle LC is a sustainable film for recyclable sachets and recyclable stand up pouches. Pack ‘N’ Cycle EL film is used for spouted pouches and special welded fitments that facilitate convenience packaging.

The types of packaging we offer for home and personal care products include:

• Stand Up Pouch: Ideal for liquids and powders. Comes in many shapes and sizes. These packages can have various enhanced features including zippers, sliders, hanging holes, and more.
• Sachet: Single dose products such as make-up remover wipes, cleaning wipes, personal care products, samples of shampoos, and creams. Use of fully recyclable plastic films for packaging these products is even more important, as this type of packaging uses large quantities of plastic compared to that for other packaged goods.
• Lidding films: Lidding Films can come in various sealing and opening mechanisms: lock seal, hard peel, easy peel, and burst peel.

Polysack experts will be happy to advise and help you find the most suitable sustainable film for your application and the best solution to meet your needs. Contact us, we’ll be glad to help!