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Plastic is one of the most polarizing topics in sustainability today, and each year continues to reveal more about its place in the beauty industry. Sustainability is a constantly evolving conversation and the rate at which cosmetic plastic bottle is produced, used and disposed of has long outpaced the research, technology and innovation needed to understand the consequences of our actions, making it quite challenging to gather data that’s specific to cosmetics. Yet, we do know that the volume of plastic which can accumulate during the process of making a single product is sometimes staggering – if you make cosmetics products for-profit and are looking to grow, hardly any brand is exempt from the presence of plastic.

In a roadmap for sustainability released by the United Nations Environment Programme in 2018, the executive summary reads: The benefits of plastic are undeniable. The material is cheap, lightweight and easy to make. These qualities have led to a boom in the production of plastic over the past century since the 1950s. We are already unable to cope with the amount of plastic waste we generate unless we rethink the way we manufacture, use and manage plastics. Ultimately, tackling one of the biggest challenges of our time will require governments to regulate, businesses to innovate and individuals to act.

Let’s admit that plastic has gathered a bad reputation – you might even say it’s been demonized in some cases. To be clear, there is no denying that waste is a problem, but to blanket shame plastic without context is to miss an opportunity for a closer look. If you want to dive deeper into all the factors that contribute to plastic waste, take a look at this hugely informative and fascinating collaboration from Oxford University and the Global Change Data Lab: