Shellworks Launches 'World's First' Home-Compostable Cosmetic Dropper

Shellworks claims to have developed the "world's first" fully home-compostable pipette dropper for products in the beauty and wellness sectors, and says its home-compostable solution has replaced more than 90 tonnes of traditional plastic.

 

Traditionally, pipette droppers for serums, essential oils and other wellness products are made from glass, rubber, plastic and other molten materials. Due to their size, they tend to fall through the cracks of recycling equipment, meaning they end up in landfill or incineration facilities, and Shellworks says they constitute "millions of units" of waste each year.

 

Its solution is to make the droppers from its Vivomer material, in which plant and other waste biomass is fermented into a "plastic-like" material. Vivomer is believed to be free of plastic, petroleum and toxic additives.

 

The material is said to combine the properties of glass, ceramic, plastic and rubber, meaning it remains completely stable during use. It is designed to only begin to biodegrade in a home composting environment, and as the entire product is said to come from the same source, it will decompose evenly.

 

 

Plus, the pipette dropper breaks down in landfill at a similar rate to cellulose.

 

Shellworks raised £4.6 million in investment funding in 2022 to develop the product. Since then, its home-compostable packaging solutions have been adopted by brands such as Wild, Abel, Eclo, People Care, Planet Care (formerly Haeckels) and Sam McKnight.

 

The company currently says it has an annual production capacity of 2.4 million units of its dropper solution and has the ability to scale to meet growing demand. The company claims that it is currently in talks with more than 10 brands in the UK, EU and US to promote the large-scale application of its products across the industry.

 

Amir Afshar, Shellworks co-founder and chief product officer, said: "Brands no longer have to choose between sustainability and shelf appeal. We designed this dropper to look as good as it looks and to disappear responsibly when it's no longer needed. This represents a fundamental shift from sustainability as an add-on feature to being fundamental to product design."

 

Dr Jay Gaston, Shellworks' head of materials, added: "We designed Vivomer to be a true industrial material that is precise, resilient and beautiful when formed. This dropper proves that even the smallest, most technical packaging challenges can be solved with the right material platform."

 

Shellworks was a finalist in the Commercialising Renewable Materials category at last year's Sustainability Awards, nominated for its Vivomer home compostable tub made from microbes.

 

In other news, Citizens of Soil has launched a disposable pipette for its Spanish extra virgin olive oil using Notpla's seaweed-based, plastic-free material. The pipette is said to be 100% natural, biodegradable, home compostable, vegan and edible.