Important step for climate protection: Beiersdorf reduces CO_2e footprint of deodorant aerosol cans

• Beiersdorf is making further progress both in climate protection and in building a circular economy through more sustainable aluminum packaging.
• All deodorant aerosol cans filled at the new plant in Leipzig will contain at least 50 percent recycled aluminum and have a lower weight thanks to material reduction.
• The more environmentally friendly aerosol cans reduce CO_2e emissions by 58 percent.

Hamburg, September 14, 2023 – Beiersdorf announces a further step towards sustainability, climate protection, and circularity: From 2023/24, all deodorant cans in the European assortment of NIVEA, 8X4, Hidrofugal, and Hansaplast will contain at least 50 percent recycled aluminum and will weigh 11.6 percent less thanks to material reduction. This will reduce CO_2e emissions in the aerosol can value chain by around 58 percent. This corresponds to a reduction of around 30,000 tons of CO_2e per year.

“Beiersdorf is already an industry pioneer in the use of recycled aluminum for aerosol cans,” affirms Isabell Niggemann, Global Procurement Manager Sustainable Packaging. “Now we are extending this more sustainable packaging solution to the entire deodorant aerosol assortment. This brings us closer to reaching our ambitious climate target that we have set with our CARE BEYOND SKIN Sustainability Agenda: The absolute reduction of our CO_2e emissions across Scope 1, 2 and 3 by 30 percent by 2025.”

“Our new, state-of-the-art production center in Leipzig has the technology to process lighter cans,” says Stephan Roelen, plant manager of Beiersdorf Manufacturing Leipzig. “In addition, the facility meets the highest environmental standards and was built with a modular, flexible design to be able to adapt to new technologies, consumer demands and market developments.”

The successful implementation of this reduction in CO_2e emissions is the result of a dedicated collaboration between Beiersdorf and leading packaging producers in the aerosol sector. The recycled material used is sourced from the European market. It is remelted and processed into aerosol cans, which Beiersdorf then uses for its products, such as deodorants.

The great advantage here is that aluminum can be recycled an infinite number of times without losing its high-quality properties as a packaging material. It is light, stable, easy to shape and provides ideal protection for the product. In addition, the recycling approach creates new perspectives for the circular economy and significantly reduces energy consumption compared to the production of primary aluminum.

Weight reduction and the sourcing of primary material from “green production” are further levers for reducing the CO_2e footprint. Beiersdorf, together with its packaging suppliers, is now also exploiting these opportunities in Europe and thus continues to be a pioneer in the market. Furthermore, also on a global scale and beyond the deodorant assortment, the portfolio of aluminum packaging is going to be converted in the coming years to achieve the company’s ambitious sustainability targets by 2025.

Beiersdorf’s new plant in Leipzig-Seehausen, where the production of cosmetic products for the European market is currently being ramped up, is making a key contribution to implementing the Group’s “Climate Care” strategy with its state-of-the-art production technology. Thanks to the exclusive use of renewable energies and the use of biogas for heat generation, the plant operates on a virtually CO_2e-neutral basis. There are even plans to expand the plant into an “Energy+” site: In this case, more energy would be generated than consumed through the plant’s own renewable energy generation.

In the future, Leipzig will not only produce NIVEA brand deodorants, hair sprays and shaving foams, but also aerosol products of 8X4, Hidrofugal, and Hansaplast will be produced in Leipzig for the European market. The production center can recover and recycle valuable resources such as heat, wastewater and ethanol to a high degree. It also offers new possibilities for filling lightweight aerosol cans: to be able to handle this lighter packaging made of recycled aluminum in the production process, so-called vacuum depalletizers have been installed. They transport the lightweight empty cans in layers and particularly gently from the pallets to the production line, without damaging them.