South Korea’s top-tier cosmetic manufacturer AmorePacific is making efforts to reduce excessive plastic consumption, addressing the impact that the beauty industry has on the natural environment, officials said Monday.

The company’s eco-friendly initiative is built on the “4R strategy” -- recycle packaging material, reduce petroleum-based plastic, reuse plastic containers, and reserve empty containers.

Such moves also come in line with the Korea Cosmetics Association’s recent vow to remove all non-recyclable plastic from the cosmetics industry by 2030.

“(The latest initiative) will serve as momentum for the (cosmetic) industry to work together in reducing plastic packaging and moving toward a sustainable economy,” said AmorePacific Chairman Suh Kyung-bae, who is also the chairman of the KCA.

To promote the recycling rate of used cosmetic products, the company has been expanding the use of metal-free pumps and easily removable labels. Metal springs that facilitate the application of emulsion products have often been pointed out as hurdles to plastic recycling.

In a move to reduce petroleum-based plastic, the company has also made attempts to roll out products in “paper bottles” made from plant-derived materials or waste plastic.

The AmorePacific Refill Station, which kicked off in October last year in Gyeonggi Province’s Gwanggyo, provides eco-driven consumers with shampoo or body wash refills, seeking to expand the product variety in the future.

The company also collects some 200 tons equivalent of empty cosmetic containers per year, some of which are recycled via various channels, including a partnership with oil refiner GS Caltex.

Reflecting all these values and actions, AmorePacific has recently presented an eco-friendly gift set that comprises biodegradable packaging, colorless PET bottles, and adhesive-free paper sleeve labels. The enclosed eco bag is also an uncycled product made of recycled PET.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)