Cellulose Esters As Sustainable Alternatives to Microplastics in Personal Care Applications

In recent years, there has been a strong demand from consumers that the products they use meet clean beauty standards. Increasing consumer awareness, along with regulatory pressure has driven raw material suppliers and brand owners to find innovative solutions for sustainability. Many cosmetic products contain microplastics that persist in the environment indefinitely and are being inadvertently consumed by wildlife and humans. Eastman has been addressing these challenges by leveraging over 100 years of material innovation to provide solutions to consumer brands for color cosmetics, skin/sun care, and hair styling applications. A key innovation focus for Eastman is to develop biobased and biodegradable alternatives to the unmet need of cosmetic formulators as a replacement of microplastics by utilizing our expertise in cellulosic chemistry.