2008 Editors’ Choice Award Winner: Sustainable Packaging
Aveda Men Pure-Formance Hair Care Collection
by The Estée Lauder Companies
Aveda continually raises the bar when it comes to sustainable packaging. Its Aveda Men Pure-Formance Hair Care Collection includes high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles with a postconsumer recycled (PCR) content of 95%—the highest percentage that the brand has used to date.
“We increased our PCR percentage by 15%, going from 80% to 95%. The only virgin material used is for the colorant carrier,” says Heather Swanson, package development manager, Aveda.
She continues, “This packaging system supports our principal goal at Aveda, which is to minimize our ecological footprint. A major part of accomplishing this goal is achieved by using the highest level of postconsumer content. In doing so, we reduce our use of virgin HDPE by 300 tons annually.”
Finding sources of PCR is not a simple task. “The greatest challenge is finding a consistent quality of material that will be clean enough to give us the quality and color targets we are looking for,” says John Delfausse, vice president of global package development and chief environmental officer, Estée Lauder Corporate Packaging.
The HDPE bottles contain shampoo and conditioner. They were supplied by TricorBraun and screen-printed by Alpha Packaging. Tubes supplied by CCL Tube are used for shampoo and grooming cream. The tubes were made from low- and high-density polyethylene with 35% PCR. All of the packages in the line are filled at Estée Lauder’s Minnesota facility, which operates using 100% certified wind power.
This hair care collection was designed to appeal to the male consumer. “The look, feel, and performance of Aveda Men is distinctly different from anything we’ve done before,” says Dominique Conseil, president of Aveda. Aveda’s creative team chose the packages’ dark brown color, featured in a wood-grain effect. The dark shade also helps to mask the natural color of the PCR.
Outer cartons are used sparingly. The line’s jars, which contain pomade, were supplied by Kaufman Container and are packaged in cartons made from 55% PCR paperboard.
A statement printed on the packages communicates information about how the PCR is used. CPC Packaging awards panelist Nicole Smith, environmental director for Design & Source Productions Inc., says that such a statement helps consumers to understand PCR’s benefits. “These bottles are physical examples that help to explain the recycling story. Consumers will understand that the plastic is being reused for something else. This is so important, because education is key,” says Smith. “Aveda is such a forward-thinking brand,” she adds.
“By finding ways to reuse materials, Aveda is setting an example that every company should strive to follow,” says awards panelist Alan Bodker, executive director of Origins package development. “They are finding a home for material that would have ended up in a landfill. This is how we should all be developing packaging in the future.”
Panelist Steve Corsi, director of design development for Markwins International, says rightly, “Hats off to Aveda. This is a product that makes a difference.”
Pushing towards even greater levels of sustainability is a goal that everyone at Aveda takes seriously. “It’s what keeps us all excited about our work,” says Swanson.