Beiersdorf has increased the amount of recycled aluminium in its NIVEA Creme tin to a minimum of 80%.

It is expected to cut 8,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent between now and 2025.

Isabell Niggeman, Procurement, said: “This important change was possible through an intense collaboration with our supplier and long-term partner, Novelis.

“It has been my role as procurement to align our sustainability approach with our supplier and develop together with R&D the new packaging and feedstock.”

On why it does not have 100% recycled aluminium, Philip Helm, Packaging, explained: “One of the highest barriers for the use of recycled aluminium is the availability of the recycled material. We must be able to ensure a steady process at the supplier and in our own production centre here in Hamburg. But yes, I can imagine achieving 100% recycled aluminium in the future, as we will continue to work on the topic of sustainability, also together with our suppliers.

“When sorted adequately and put to recycling, aluminium can stay in the material cycle almost infinitely without a meaningful degradation of properties and quality. Therefore, aluminium is really the ideal packaging material for a circular economy.”

Holger Dede, Beiersdorf Manufacturing Hamburg, added: “Besides the challenge of the availability of recycled aluminium in the quantities we need for a product we sell globally, it has been a challenge to identify the right alloy that fits into our machines and processes in the factory. It’s been a trial-and-error phase of testing that took several months until we found the best fit and adapted our processes to the new material.

“Next to this challenge, it was also a bit tricky to get the green claim printed on the tin in the right format. Prior to the relaunch, our NIVEA Creme tin had the same look around the globe, but now, we wanted to have the “80% recycled aluminium” message printed on the side of the tin.

“Our processes are set in the way that we print the colour onto the aluminium sheets first and then press the aluminium into the tin shape. So, the layout of the printing needed very precise adjustments, so that the claim stood in a horizontal design. Imagine this for the many different markets we sell the NIVEA Creme and the languages this requires, we were quite busy with this.”