Tinted sunscreen, stick sunscreen, and even powdered sunscreen. Since the first commercial sunscreens appeared in the 1920s, the market has expanded and new developments have continued to appear. In Australia, the company Solmates Australia markets a sunscreen applicator that allows the filter to be replaced whenever necessary, thus avoiding the waste of bottles.
The rechargeable sunscreen has a removable base, which is released with a slight push and counter-clockwise twist. O filter Solmate also has a roll-on format, which allows easy application of the product on the body, and is compact, ideal to carry in your bag, taking up little space.
As the manufacturer itself does not market the sunscreen itself, the idea is that customers can have sunscreens in bulk, which is already a reality.
In addition to the functionality of the product, the applicator guarantees the reduction of plastic waste already in production, since it is made with recycled plastic from the ocean. To do this, Solmate has partnered with the social enterprise Plastic Bank, which operates in the cleaning and recycling of plastics in coastal communities around the world. So far, Solmate claims to have contributed to the elimination of three thousand kilograms of plastic waste.
The applicator also has vegetable-based inks and the stickers, tapes and labels are compostable. The ball is made of Teflon and the rope is made of silicone rubber. The manufacturer also commits to recycling the product at the end of what it hopes will be a long useful life.
Photo: Solmates Australia
Designed and manufactured in Sydney, one of Australia’s largest cities, the product’s manufacturing is fully traceable, according to the company. “We know who makes every part of our applicator, so we make sure everyone in our supply chain is treated fairly and everything is done to minimize the impact on our planet,” Solmates Australia guarantees. Outside of Australia, the product is currently only marketed in New Zealand.
Although there is no estimate of the production of plastic waste generated by the sunscreen industry, it is a fact that most of the products available are sold in plastic containers. In Brazil, led by Grupo Boticário, a project is already working to remove plastic waste from the coast of São Paulo to transform it into sunscreen packaging and other items from the brand’s portfolio.
Photo: Solmates Australia