Why is the plastic screw lotion pump the first choice for cosmetic packaging?

In recent years, plastic screw lotion pumps have emerged in the field of cosmetic packaging, gradually replacing traditional metal or glass pump heads and becoming a core component that mass brands and high-end product lines are competing to adopt. Behind this trend is the comprehensive result of the co-evolution of material science, consumer demand and industrial design. From the touch of consumers' fingertips when unscrewing the bottle cap to the precise calculation of supply chain costs by brand owners, plastic screw lotion pumps have quietly reshaped the packaging logic of the entire industry with their seemingly simple structure.

The lightweight characteristics of plastic materials are its first trump card to conquer the market. Compared with metal pump heads, the weight of polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE) materials can often be reduced by 60%-70%, which means that the burden of carrying is significantly reduced for products such as sunscreen and hand cream that need to be reapplied frequently. When consumers put 30ml of essence into their commuter bags, the combination of plastic pump heads and glass bottle bodies is about 15 grams lighter than all-metal packaging-this subtle difference, when magnified in the e-commerce logistics link, can reduce the transportation carbon emissions of a single batch of goods by 2%-3%. Global brands particularly value this "weight economy". An international beauty group once disclosed data that after fully switching to plastic pump heads, its annual logistics costs in the Asia-Pacific region saved more than 1.2 million US dollars.

Cost control has always been the underlying code of the business world. The production of plastic pump heads relies on mature injection molding technology. A set of molds can complete the transformation from granular raw materials to molded components within 45 seconds, and the average daily output easily exceeds 10,000 pieces. Compared with metal pump heads that need to go through multiple processes such as stamping, welding, and electroplating, the production cost of plastic parts can be compressed by more than 40%. This cost advantage has become increasingly prominent in the supply chain crisis caused by the new crown epidemic: when the price of aluminum alloys skyrocketed due to international transportation obstructions, plastic raw materials still maintained a stable regional supply pattern. The founder of a new domestic brand admitted that after using plastic screw pump heads, the packaging cost of its popular essence dropped from 22% to 13%, directly giving up profit space to support the pricing war in the era of live streaming.

Chemical stability is the key battle for plastic pump heads to defeat metal opponents in the laboratory. Cosmetic formulators have found that serums containing active ingredients such as retinol and salicylic acid will produce trace oxidation reactions when in contact with the inner wall of the metal pump head for a long time, resulting in the inactivation of the active ingredients. Food-grade PP materials not only have excellent corrosion resistance to acidic and alkaline substances, but also the compactness of their molecular structure can block oxygen penetration. A laboratory comparative test showed that the retention rate of the same VC essence after being stored in a plastic pump head for 6 months was 8.7% higher than that of the metal pump head group. This feature is particularly important at a time when "pure beauty" is emphasized. The inner wall of the plastic pump head does not require additional coating treatment, which just meets the consumer's safety demand for "zero metal dissolution".

The refined design of user experience transforms the advantages of the plastic pump head into the perceived value of the consumer end. The engineering team accurately controls the amount of liquid discharged in a single press in the range of 0.3-1.5ml by adjusting the spring tension and piston diameter. This value has been proven by a large number of tests to meet the needs of single use and avoid waste caused by excessive use. In terms of transportation safety, the innovative double locking system is becoming the industry standard - the combination of the rotating outer cover and the self-locking device of the push head allows the product to maintain zero leakage after experiencing the pressure changes during air transportation. The "vacuum preservation pump" developed by a Japanese group has brought the characteristics of plastic to the extreme: through a special structural design, the bottle is always maintained in a negative pressure state to ensure that every last drop of lotion can be completely pumped out. This design has increased the product utilization rate to 98%, winning a good reputation in a market environment where environmental protection issues are rising.