Aethic, the UK-based skincare company that launched Sôvée, world’s only patented ecocompatible triple-filter sunscreen, is now the first in Europe to adopt a new Brazilian eco-plastic material for its bottles.

Aethic Sôvée will now be bottled in Green PE, a polymer manufactured with ethylene made from sugarcane ethanol. While retaining identical properties to conventional PE in terms of performance, the green plastic absorbs 2,15kg of CO2 from the atmosphere for every kg produced. Moreover, 80% of the energy consumed during its production comes from renewable resources.

Most skincare manufacturers use standard PE (Polyethylene) for their packaging. This type of plastic relies on fossil raw materials (i.e. oil and gas) and also has a higher carbon footprint and acquatrail when compared to Green PE.

Aethic is the first skincare company to announce the use of Green PE for a sunscreen in Europe. The packaging is produced by Braskem, a petrochemical company headquartered in São Paulo.

Allard Marx, CEO of Aethic, commented, “We could not use a standard material given our ethos and the fact that our cream leaves the ocean intact. We first used PLA, a corn-based material very successfully used in disposable food packaging; yet this proved a little brittle for a bottle over longer time periods. We searched high and low for a more flexible alternative until we were alerted to Braskem’s Green PE. It’s been fast and frenetic to test the material in time for this summer but I am delighted to say that we’ve made it”.

Martin David Rangel Clemesha, Technical Sales Manager Europe for Braskem, added, “I’m very pleased that in less than six months we managed to go from idea to project launch through the close cooperation between all the partners in the value chain. This record wouldn’t have been achieved if it weren’t for Aethic’s firm commitment to have a sustainable packaging material for its leading-edge Sôvée sunscreen”.