Takehome:

• Cosmetic importers/manufacturers shall submit a grade evaluation report on cosmetic packaging to Korea Environment Corporation (KEC) to obtain the confirmation of the grade.
• Most of the cosmetic packaging will be graded as “difficult to recycle” (such as lipstick, colored glass bottle, palette container, tube, etc.).

Earlier ChemLinked reported that South Korea implemented the Act on the Promotion of Saving and Recycling of Resources (hereinafter the Act) on Dec. 25, 2019, which banned the use of PVC materials in cosmetics and required enterprises to label the packaging material grade ^[1].

• Cosmetics with PVC materials were prohibited starting from Dec. 25, 2019.
• The evaluation of packaging material grade is subject to a 9-month grace period until Sep. 24, 2020. Penalties apply for the release of products in the market that does not have packaging material grade evaluation report after the grace period.

Evaluation of Packaging Material Structure

1. The Act classifies packaging materials into four grades, which are best, excellent, good, and difficult to recycle. According to Cosmetic Consulting, cosmetic importers/manufacturers shall submit a grade evaluation report on cosmetic packaging to KEC to obtain the confirmation of the grade.

Note:
1) If the material and structure are the same, enterprises only need to apply for evaluation once regardless of size, color number, etc.

2) There is no need for a re-evaluation of the material, and the structure of a new product is the same as the previous product already confirmed. However, the new product name should be added to the grade evaluation management record.

2. Cosmetic importers/manufacturers are obliged to mark the grade on the Korean label within six months after receiving the confirmation of the packaging material grade from KEC.

Note:
1) If the labeling of grade is not possible within six months after receiving the packaging material grade (such as a change in the manufacturing process), an additional nine months is given for compliance.

2) Printing of the material grade on the Korean label before the evaluation is completed is not permitted.

3. Most of the cosmetic packaging will be graded as “difficult to recycle” (such as lipstick, colored glass bottle, palette container, tube, etc.).

Note: Products less than 30ml (g) are exempted from both recycling mark and packaging material grade on the label.

Packaging Material Structure Evaluation Procedure

Source: Cosmetic Consulting

1. Required Documents

• Packaging material information of all the products
• Photos of all the products (photos are submitted to KEC)

2. Evaluation Period

• Ten days after submission of application
• Fee: free

* Due to the heavy workload currently, only glass and PET bottles will be graded within ten days, and the rest will be graded slowly until March 24, 2021.

Resource from Chemlinked