SHELLWORKS LAUNCHES THE WORLD'S FIRST FULLY COMPOSTABLE DROPPER
On June 20, sustainable packaging developer Shellworks launched the world's first fully compostable pipette dropper, revolutionizing sustainable packaging for the beauty and health industry.
Droppers used for serums, essential oils and health products are typically made from molten materials such as glass, rubber and plastic, which poses a challenge to the sustainability of the beauty industry.
Droppers are small and easily slip through recycling equipment, resulting in almost all droppers ending up in landfill or incineration, creating millions of units of waste each year.
This fully stable biodegradable alternative combines the properties of glass, ceramic, plastic and rubber, meaning the entire product comes from the same source and can be decomposed as a whole when discarded.
The company developed this innovative product with the help of a £4.6 million seed round raised in 2022, and has already provided other biodegradable packaging solutions to brands including Wild, Boots and Tesco.
The London-based company's breakthrough solution uses Vivomer, a two-time Dieline Award-winning plastic-free material made from waste biomass such as plants that is fermented to create a plastic-like material.
Vivomer is naturally free of plastic, petroleum and toxic additives, and is extremely stable to use.
The groundbreaking material only breaks down when treated in a home composting environment, and even in landfills it breaks down at a similar rate to cellulose.
Shellworks'packaging is used in products from a wide range of brands, including fragrance brand Abel, French beauty company Eclo, People. Planet (formerly Haeckels) and haircare brand Sam McKnight.
Shellworks is in talks with 10 brands in the UK, EU and US to roll out the innovation across the industry.
After two years of research and development, the company now has the production capacity to produce 2.4 million dropper solutions per year, with the ability to scale to meet growing demand.
"Brands no longer have to choose between sustainability and shelf appeal," said Amir Afshar, co-founder and chief product officer at Shellworks.
"We designed this dropper to not only look good, but also feel good in the hand and be responsibly destroyed when no longer needed. This represents a fundamental shift in sustainability from being an added feature to being fundamental to product design."
"We designed Vivomer to be a true industrial material – it molds to precision, is resilient and beautiful," said Dr Jay Gaston, head of materials at Shellworks.
"This dropper proves that even the smallest, most technical packaging challenges can be solved with the right material platform."
The company has successfully replaced over 90 tonnes of conventional plastic with its innovative compostable solution.
With a growing team of 24 innovators and over 1.8 million packaging solutions delivered worldwide, Shellworks is driving progress in the sustainable packaging industry.
