Following the postponement of last year’s event until October 2021, Cosmetorium has decided to get the ball rolling with a series of talks aimed at providing a meeting point for the cosmetics industry. RAFESA was pleased to participate in this new framework of online events – the Cosmetorium e-connecting – to talk about sustainability and offer its point of view on one of the most common issues in forums for this sector: what do we do with plastic?
“Glass or plastic? – Both”, was the resounding reply from Daniel Sánchez, Sales Manager at RAFESA, when sharing the company’s vision with the more than 90 professionals who watched his talk. Daniel Sánchez placed an emphasis on sustainability as a roadmap for the sector, calling for the use of materials that can lower emissions and energy dependency on fossil fuels. He also highlighted the use made by and responsibility that consumers must accept for the packaging they buy and use.
“The pandemic has demonstrated that people have a capacity to impact the environment, so we need to ask ourselves what we can do to be more sustainable”, he said. One by one, Daniel Sánchez listed the main material trends being developed: GREEN PE, recycled glass, recycled PET, wood and even the interior of these wooden accessories using compostable material, such as bioplastic and cork, which enable improved waste separation when recycling at home. He also underlined the importance of decorative minimalism by reducing inks and printed information, among other things. He went on to mention such processes as serigraphy, varnishing and stamping, among others.
During his talk, Daniel Sánchez did not hesitate to oppose and question the black and white vision of glass and plastic that presents the former as ‘good’ and the latter as ‘bad’. “Plastic can be used poorly, but so can glass. We need to find a balance. Not all glass is sustainable and not all plastic isn’t. For example, the glass manufacturing process uses a lot of energy and its transportation is more costly for the planet”, he explained.
He said that each one of the sustainable designs from RAFESA offers certain advantages (reduced emissions, energy and water consumption, etc.) and specific features based on how it is used. It is therefore not only necessary to analyse the material but rather all the requirements need to be assessed and the production process needs to be streamlined according to that set of variables. However, the key to success for a genuine transition by the sector towards sustainability lies in the consumer. “We can create a 100% sustainable process but, at the end of the day, if the consumer takes that packaging and does not recycle it, those efforts will have been for nothing”, he said.
