Examining the Mechanical Properties of Recycled Composite Plastic From the Cosmetic Industry

The cosmetic industry utilizes plastic for most of its packaging, as it is a cheap option that produces packaging that is highly durable and resistant to many chemicals. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the most commonly used plastic in cosmetic packaging, and is an ideal candidate for recycling due to their short lifespan and low diffusion coefficient. However, cosmetic packaging is often not recycled properly due to its small size, contributing to the growing global plastic waste problem. If a sustainable closed-loop system was created where cosmetic packaging was created using purely recycled PET, then the amount of plastic produced could be reduced. By examining the mechanical properties of recycled composite PET from the cosmetic industry, conclusions can be drawn about its applicability in cosmetic packaging. The water absorption, UV-visible absorbance, and tensile strength was tested for recycled composite PET to predict how the material would perform if it was used in cosmetic packaging. It was found that the recycled composite PET did not perform as well as virgin PET in terms of water absorption and tensile strength, but performed similarly in reference to UV-visible absorbance. More research needs to be done to further characterize the mechanical properties of recycled composite PET before it can be used in cosmetic packaging, but this study analyzes three of the most prominent aspects found in cosmetic packaging.