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Fully recycled bottles adopted by UK baby care company

By Katie Bird, 17-Jul-2008

Organic baby care manufacturer Beaming Baby claims to be the first UK-based toiletries company to use one hundred per cent recycled bottles.

The company has followed in the footsteps of drinks manufacturer Innocent and is moving its whole product range over to the recycled container.

In addition to being 100 per cent recycled, the bottles are also fully recyclable.

Colour variation puts off big companies

However, the system is not without difficulties, including the possible variation in colour of the resulting bottle.

The colour of the bottles is affected by the colour of the material that is being recycled, and it is the light colours such as yellow that are most affected, Beaming Baby's Lucy Adams explained.

"This variation can often put off the bigger companies" she told CosmeticsDesign.

Nevertheless, the Devon-based company has decided to go ahead with the bottles, using the variation as a selling point and informing consumers that due to the recycling procedure the bottle will not always look the same.

Another problem can be getting hold of the recycled bottles. There are relatively few suppliers and the manufacturing scale means that the price is slightly higher than their non-recycled counterparts.

However, Beaming Baby hopes that other personal care companies will follow suit and the increased demand for the products should help to solve supply and cost issues.

It is certainly the right time for manufacturers to make such moves and according to recent statistics consumers have never before been so concerned about all things green.

France and Britain lead the way

According to market research company Mintel, it is France and Britain that lead the way with ethical and environmental beauty purchases.

Approximately 25 per cent of French women and 20 per cent of British want recyclable beauty packaging whereas the figure for US women was significantly lower at just 12 per cent.

"Beauty manufacturers are innovating by making their products more compatible with the emerging lifestyle trends of ethical shopping and eco-consciousness. They are focusing more and more on using recyclable packaging or packaging made of recycled materials," Mintel analyst Nica Lewis told CosmeticsDesign.

Manufacturers are also looking into ways to reduce the amount of packaging used in an attempt to reduce the environmental impact of their products, she added.