Lipstick made from algae comes in refillable, biodegradable packaging

The beauty and personal care market is constantly growing. Whilst the industry attempts to be more sustainable, single-use plastics continue to be produced, filling up landfills. With the awareness that the beauty industry is a significant pollutant, San Diego-based sustainable beauty brand Urth has launched a refillable sliding lipstick with sleek, biodegradable packaging.

Urth’s sliding lipstick comes with a refillable dispenser made up of only five components. The dispenser can be easily disposed of in an at-home compost bin, degrading only after 12 weeks. The packaging is also biodegradable as it is made from thermoplastic algae. For this, Urth collaborated with a research team at UC San Diego’s Center for Renewable Materials who developed the thermoplastic algae. The material is durable and requires minimal fossil fuels and greenhouse gases to create.

Springwise