In late 2025 L’Oréal asked CIRCPACK to evaluate a cosmetic tube whose multilayer construction was failing NIR detection on three of the four major sorting protocols in scope. The brief: keep the oxygen and light barrier the formulation required, but unlock recyclability on the dominant streams.
The starting point
A desk study against the RecyClass PP-rigid guideline flagged two deltas: a thin barrier layer that was misreading as a contaminant, and a printed-sleeve coverage above the recyclability threshold. CIRCPACK auditors then ran an operational sorting test inside two MRFs, confirming an ejection rate of 22% on the incumbent pack.
The full deltas report sat with L’Oréal packaging engineers for three weeks before any retooling decision was made. The operational evidence informed the trade-off without forcing it.
The relaunched tube ships in Q4 2026 with a thinner barrier layer, a reduced-coverage sleeve, and a fresh RecyClass green-class certificate. The formulation team confirmed the new barrier still meets the shelf-life target.