Sundown® has just closed partnership with Braskem, the leader in thermoplastic resins in Latin America and the third producer in the Americas. The company owns the manufacturing technology of Green Resin, the sustainable polyethylene obtained from sugar cane. Thus, Sundown® is the first cosmetics brand in the country to initiate the development of package called Green PE.

Considered a watershed in the polymer market, for it is made with 100% renewable raw materials, the material has the same appearance and properties of traditional plastics in the final product, the difference is that it can capture CO2 from the atmosphere, i.e. one ton of green resin captures 2.5 tons of CO2.

For Johnson & Johnson, this is a great initiative that can lead to many others. "The company has several other activities related to environmental responsibility as wastewater treatment, solid waste control, etc.. Regarding the package, we have several projects to use pre and post-consumption recycled material, but actually using the Green Resin is a unique action of the company in the world", says Marcelo Scatolini, manager of the Suncare group of Johnson & Johnson.

Scatolini explains that the pioneering spirit is part of the whole trajectory of Sundown®, therefore the company appreciates the fact that it will be the first to promote this type of partnership related to the Green Resin in the cosmetics sector. "Sundown® is a brand that develops products for consumers to enjoy the sun the right way. The sun is linked to joy, fun, outdoor activities, nature, so taking care of sustainability worrying about a package that reduces the damage to the environment has everything to do with the brand", Scatolini adds..

The first packages of the new material will arrive for the summer 2011/2012. Initially, the Regular Line of Protectors and Blockers and the Sundown® Gold tanning line will be the first to be produced with the package made of a renewable raw material, but the whole portfolio should now be done with the Green Resin.

"Johnson & Johnson will have exclusiveness in the market of sun-blocking in Brazil and continues to evaluate the use of green polyethylene in other product lines and in other parts of the world. The Green Resin will broaden the relationship between Sundown® and the Sun. Besides the product, the package now will also have this relationship, as this material only exists because the sun provides energy to the development of sugar cane", says Rui Chammas, director of Braskem's polyethylene business.

The Green Ethylene is produced from the dehydration of ethanol from sugar canes (the same that is currently used as fuel in hybrid cars) and then polymerized into green polyethylene, in industrial units which will be dedicated exclusively to the product. This plastic can be used in all applications where the petrochemical version is used nowadays, with no changes in machinery or production processes.

Having sold over 100 million sunscreens in Brazil since it inaugurated this category in the country, in 1984, Sundown® will now also provide immediate protection in and out of the water, photostability (extended protection) and UVA/UVB balanced protection - preventing sunburn and skin aging -, a sustainable package that balances carbon and uses 100% renewable raw material. It is the most complete brand and the leader in the category bringing, one more time, innovations to the consumer.