Introducing Eco Smart - Earth Friendly Plastic that Returns to Nature

 

Stop using plastic drinking straws. Bring your own bag to the grocery store. Invest in a refillable water bottle. Recycle more. These small changes in your daily life can make a difference in the amount of plastic ending up in landfills every year; however, voluntary initiatives alone will not fix the global and environmental impact of plastic. The truth is that only 9% of plastics are recycled out of the 36 million tons generated in the United States every year, according to the EPA.

Eco Smart® by Federal Package® is primed to help solve this challenge. Eco Smart containers are an earth-conscience sustainability solution for the global personal care market that is fully FDA compliant and made in the USA. This proprietary technology enables plastic components to fully break down in biologically active environments, like landfills and marine environments.

In a recent article written by The Guardian (The Plastic Backlash: What's Behind our Sudden Rage – And Will it Make a Difference?), a worldwide revolt against plastic is underway. The visible problem—overflowing landfills and great garbage patches at the bottom of the ocean—has been building for the past three decades, but it’s only in the last few years that the general public has started to care.

The shift came once the public began to see plastic as not just a trash nuisance but an environmental issue. Documentaries featuring sea turtles wrapped in plastic netting or dead birds with bellies full of discarded plastic caps drove public outcry.

According to a recent BCG survey:

  • A majority of respondents in all countries expressed a willingness to pay a premium of 5% or more for green products;

  • 73% of consumers considered it important that companies have sound sustainability and environmental initiatives;

  • 50% of consumers believe that green products are of higher quality than similar products which aren’t.

Plastic in the Health and Beauty Industry

According to Euromonitor International, almost 7.9 billion units of rigid plastic containers were created just for beauty and personal care products in 2018. Thankfully, change is coming. Indie brands may have led the push for more sustainability initiatives in the beauty industry, but multinational brands are catching up. Whether it is acquiring and incubating successful eco brands or developing their own product lines, consumers are responding positively.

Eco Smart containers can help small and large companies alike in their sustainability initiatives. The containers include an organic additive that helps the plastic break down in days, not decades when disposed of in a biologically active landfill. This additive encourages microbes to penetrate the plastic and break down the chemical bonds of the plastic. This breakdown process has been tested to ASTM D5511 (municipal landfill) and ASTM D6691 (marine) protocols and has shown excellent biodegradation rates.

The Eco Smart brand is a direct upgrade to the existing line of world-class containers produced by Federal Package with no change in form, fit, or function. Contact Federal Package to learn how to include Eco Smart in your next health and beauty container.

 
Jeffrey Martinecosmart, sustainability, clean beauty