French beauty brand L’Occitane en Provence has joined forces with Albéa Tubes to revamp the packaging of its iconic 30ml hand cream collection. The makeover begins with the shea butter version, set for release in January 2024. The innovative tube incorporates Albéa's Greenleaf technology and the OctoTop 2-in-1 closure system.

In a significant step forward in their collaboration, L’Occitane and Albéa Tubes are relaunching their best-selling 30ml shea butter hand cream. They've replaced the former Aluminum Barrier Laminate tube with an all-plastic laminate and APR-certified Greenleaf solution featuring a multilayer HDPE sleeve. This transition reduces the materials used from 5 to 2 and the components from 3 to 2.

L’Occitane selects Albéa’s recyclable tube for its 30 ml hand cream

Lighter and Environmentally Friendly

Shifting from a laminated (ABL) tube to a Greenleaf tube incorporating the OctoTop opening system not only enables recyclability but also trims the tube's weight by 23% compared to the current version. 

For the cap, L’Occitane turned to Albéa's EcoTop technology with OctoTop, a 2-in-1 flip-top closure system characterized by the iconic octagonal shape of L’Occitane, eliminating the need for a peel seal. The closure system is made of HDPE, ensuring that the entire tube can be recycled within existing PE recycling systems in France, Europe, and the United States.

Albéa indicates that this custom project resulted from two years of collaborative development and is underpinned by a certified life cycle analysis (LCA) evaluating the new tube's environmental impact reduction across several categories, compared to the current one.

David Bayard, R&D Packaging Director at L’Occitane, underlines, "In our CSR strategy, reducing the CO2 impact of our products is a top priority, and we aim to achieve this through innovations that truly make a difference. Weight reduction and recyclability were central to this project, prompting us to simplify the tube without compromising aesthetics and functionality. In fact, the OctoTop enhances the tube's functionality for our customers."

Isabelle Sery, Sales Director at Albéa Tubes, adds, "L’Occitane didn't hesitate to reevaluate and redesign its most iconic packaging to drive circularity forward, and we couldn't be prouder of this new milestone in our ongoing journey."

These tubes are manufactured for L’Occitane at the Albéa Argonne site in France and will be available on the market in early 2024.