HERBAL DRUGS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ACNE: A REVIEW

Cosmetic packaging protects formulations from contamination, oxidation, leakage and loss of volatile ingredients, but it can also contribute to resource consumption and post-consumer waste. The challenge is particularly complex because cosmetic containers must satisfy aesthetic, sensory, compatibility, dispensing and hygiene requirements. This review examines sustainable cosmetic packaging through a circular-economy lens, focusing on packaging reduction, reuse and refill systems, design for recycling, recycled polymers, and emerging bio-based or biodegradable materials. It also considers life-cycle assessment (LCA) as a method for comparing alternatives across raw-material production, manufacture, transport, use and end-of-life. Published studies indicate that no single material or strategy is universally superior: environmental outcomes depend on product type, packaging mass, number of reuse cycles, collection and recycling infrastructure, transport distances, and consumer behaviour. Refillable systems may reduce impacts when containers are reused sufficiently often, while lightweighting and mono-material designs can improve some life-cycle outcomes. Biodegradable materials require careful assessment of actual disposal conditions and should not be treated as automatically preferable. The review identifies key technical and evidence gaps, including limited comparable quantitative data, the need to protect product safety and stability, and the risk of unsupported environmental claims. A practical decision framework is proposed for selecting packaging based on product protection, circularity, LCA evidence, user convenience and end-of-life feasibility.