Low-no-waste: How Oasis Skincare and Quadpack are advancing the zero-waste beauty movement in APAC

Hildra Gwee told CosmeticsDesign-Asia​ that many of the consumers that approach the Singapore-based brand were very aware about the environmental issues and are looking to make a positive impact by looking for products with less packaging.

The company offers a range of solid personal care products and skin care products that come in recyclable glass bottles that can be reused and refilled at its beauty kitchen located on the city fringes.

“The idea behind our skin care is that even though they come in glass bottles which are recyclable, at the same time what we are trying to encourage is for people not just to think about recycling it but to reuse the bottle,”​ said Gwee.

Gwee believes this can help consumers bridge the gap between the lack of transparency associated with recycling.

“There's still not enough information for us to really know if the process is efficient. Our approach instead [of putting bottles into the recycling bin], is to why not reuse the bottle. That is the surest way you will know that it is put to good use over and over again.”​

That’s not to say recycling is not an important part of the journey towards sustainability.

“Recycled plastic materials are much more energy-efficient than creating new materials. That's a really good indication of how important recycling will be and something we need to continue to strive to use to have better resources for the future,”​ explained Katie Hoddinott, design team leader at Quadpack.

The Spain-based packaging supplier believes we will eventually see sustainable materials take over the industry and is working to help cosmetic companies adapt to this change with it calls ‘positive-impact packaging’.​

“This refers to eco-designed components that leave no harmful residues behind.  We take something from nature and put it back into it, without harming our planet and all its inhabitants. In other words, this circularity process stands for our positive-impact packaging.”​

While there have been man advances, Hoddinott added that the industry was still a long way from finding the perfect eco solution.

“To be honest, we're not there yet. It's a really long journey towards zero waste packaging. But that isn't to say we haven't created great advances... Particularly, with regards to alternative materials and looking at refillable and reusable systems, this is a really big area to explore.”​