Factory Owner’s Life Changes After Visit To Recycling Plant

Discovering The Right Plastic

Sometimes you just “know” when it’s the right type of packaging for your brand.

It can be when you first touch it. Or when you test it with your product. Or see how it compares to others sitting on a shelf.

For Taiwanese manufacturer Patrick Pan, his Aha! moment came from first realizing what was the wrong type of plastic.

Worse, it was a material he was most familiar with. It made up 80% of his existing business at the time.

But seeing it in a new setting, with fresh eyes, was like discovering it for the first time. And knowing, from that moment on, that he would have to go in a completely different direction if he wanted to achieve his vision of the ideal luxury cosmetic packaging.

“It was 2004 and, at the time, we had a success making acrylic bottles. Like many others, I was becoming more concerned about the environment. I wanted to see the lifecycle of our products. So I went to volunteer at a local recycling station. One day I saw a bottle of ours. I asked about it, and was told it was rated as a recycle code #7. They said it would be very hard to reuse; that it would likely just end up as pure waste.

This is not something you can just ignore. So I went back to my team to talk about other options. I told them we would start working with a sustainable material that was recycle code #1. And also that it must be suitable for the luxury cosmetic market. So maybe it was not the easiest or most comfortable thing to change our entire business. But I knew this is what we had to do.”

By 2005, EPOPACK had developed new PET Heavy Wall Bottles. A sustainable plastic in a sturdy, glass-like style.

In 2009, they released their first fully Post-Consumer Recycled packaging lineup.

Today they offer a complete catalogue of new PET and PCR-PET bottles and jars, along with airless bottles. All customizable for multiple attachments and decoration styles.

Patrick has achieved his vision, and now you can see if it’s the right fit for your brand.

“Of course you have to receive samples. You have to try it for yourself. But at least you know we are starting with this fantastic material. And that it was all developed for the eco-conscious luxury brand to shine.”

EPOPACK is currently offering consultations for skincare and haircare product launches. To explore all your packaging options, make a request by email:

amyw@epopack.com