As Aptar Beauty celebrates six decades of manufacturing in Normandy, the company is investing in a new generation of sustainable equipment — and reshaping how fragrance sampling is produced and delivered.
The Verneuil d’Avre et d’Iton site has long been a key part of Aptar’s industrial footprint in Europe. Today, it plays an even more strategic role. In 2025, it’s expanding. The site now includes a second filling line and, for the first time, electric molding presses — a major shift from older hydraulic systems.
It’s not just a factory milestone. It’s a step toward Aptar’s long-term commitment to reduce energy use, transition to circular systems, and offer brands a full-service solution for fragrance and beauty packaging.
A Local Site with Global Impact
Located just over 100 kilometres from Paris, the Verneuil facility produces fragrance sampling units for some of the world’s most recognised cosmetics brands. It’s also where Aptar’s full-service offering comes to life — from design to molding, filling, assembly, and even card packaging.
This is where Easy Spray, one of Aptar’s best-selling miniature fragrance formats, is built. It’s designed, filled, and carded in-house. The process is fast, lean, and fully traceable. For brands working on short lead times and strict sustainability targets, that’s not just convenient — it’s critical.
The same goes for iD Scent, a recyclable, paper-based sampling format developed in France. It’s built from mono-material paper, with no plastic or foil layers, meaning it can be disposed of with everyday paper waste. This is increasingly relevant as EU rules tighten on recyclability and packaging composition.
Switching to Electric Molding: A Strategic Shift
The most significant upgrade to the Verneuil site in 2025 is the rollout of electric molding presses. The aim is clear: reduce power consumption and improve efficiency across the molding line.
Electric presses consume around 25% less energy than the traditional hydraulic models they replace. They also allow more precise control and produce less operational noise — a quieter, cleaner process overall.
Aptar expects the Verneuil site to operate entirely on electric molding presses by 2030. This aligns with the company’s global environmental targets and reflects growing pressure on packaging suppliers to deliver both cost and carbon savings.
In real terms, that means lower emissions per unit produced, and fewer mechanical failures — all while maintaining tight tolerances for beauty packaging standards.
A Facility Built for Full-Service Fragrance
Verneuil isn’t just about manufacturing. It’s about delivering a full-service solution that aligns with what the beauty industry now expects from its partners.
Clients — from multinationals to niche brands — want flexibility, sustainability, and regional supply chains that shorten time to market. They want options like recyclable formats, PCR integration, and on-site filling. And they want the whole process in one place.
That’s what Verneuil offers. Easy Spray and iD Scent are just two examples. These formats leave the site fully assembled and ready for use — often already attached to sample cards or ready for insertion into retail kits.
The site’s second filling line, added in 2025, is designed to support higher volumes while maintaining strict batch control. This matters especially for premium brands working with delicate fragrance compositions and small batch launches.
Material Recovery and Circular Packaging
Sustainability at Verneuil goes beyond energy use. The site now recycles over 95% of the plastic it processes during production. POM (polyoxymethylene), a plastic not easily recyclable, is being phased out entirely in all new developments — and removed gradually from legacy lines.
Instead, Aptar is scaling up its use of post-consumer recycled (PCR) resins and developing packaging systems that are easier to disassemble and sort after use.
The goal: create fragrance and beauty packaging that doesn’t just look premium, but performs well across the entire life cycle — from production, to use, to end of life.
Backed by Certification — and Experience
The Verneuil site holds five ISO certifications:
- ISO 9001 (Quality)
- ISO 14001 (Environment)
- ISO 50001 (Energy)
- ISO 22716 (Good Manufacturing Practices for Cosmetics)
Landfill-Free status
These credentials reinforce the site’s operational discipline. But behind them is something just as important — sixty years of manufacturing knowledge, regional expertise, and a team that understands the needs of beauty brands.
“Thanks to the expertise and agility of our teams, this site will continue to reinvent itself to adapt to emerging market trends and deliver the best of French manufacturing to our customers,” said Cyril Chevalier, Operations Director at Aptar Verneuil d’Avre et d’Iton.
Sampling is changing. Brands want formats that are recyclable, regionally produced, and available on short lead times. At the same time, regulators are tightening rules on waste, recyclability, and traceability.
Verneuil is one of the few sites in Europe that can offer both performance and compliance at scale. With the Easy Spray and iD Scent formats, Aptar now offers brands a way to meet their marketing, logistics, and ESG targets without compromise.
According to Aptar, demand for these full-service solutions is growing year-on-year. The company expects volume growth in the fragrance sampling category to continue, especially as refillables and mono-material packaging become standard.
A Platform for Future Growth
The Verneuil site is part of a wider industrial platform in Normandy that includes several other Aptar facilities. Together, they form a manufacturing network serving brands such as Clarins, L’Oréal, and Puig.
For Jean-Noël Coninx, Normandy Operations Director at Aptar Beauty, the strategy is clear:
“Within five years, Aptar’s Normandy platform aims to become a global benchmark for our prestige fragrance and cosmetics clients in terms of innovation, quality, and service.”
