Bioglitter™: The World's Only Certified Fresh Water
Biodegradable Glitter Brand

What isBioglitter®?

Eco Friendly

This is NOT glitter… This is Bioglitter®

Bioglitter®‘s appearance is the only similarity with plastic glitter, Bioglitter® is based on completely different raw materials.

THE BIOGLITTER® JOURNEY… so far… 

Invented by Ronald Britton Ltd, a British company and since May 2023 owned by Sigmund Lindner GmbH; Bioglitter® uses sustainably and ethically sourced natural and plant derived materials as its basis rather than plastic. ALL our products are PROVEN to biodegrade through independent ISO14851 and ISO14852 fresh water testing of the WHOLE Bioglitter™ product, core and coating.

Plant Material

Sigmund Lindner GmbH uses TÜV ‘OK biodegradable WATER’ certification as a simple and clear means of communicating this fact to our customers.

  • Certification cuts through confusing messages and unqualified product claims
  • A level of certification considered the highest of its kind in the world.
  • Sigmund Lindner GmbH’s TÜV Certification/Serial No is S2581 and is easily verified on the TÜV Austria website

We have taken this approach as terms such as ‘100% plastic free’ and ‘100% biodegradable’ can be misleading, used without qualification and don’t necessarily describe the eco credentials of a product.

We believe ‘OK biodegradable WATER’ certification cuts through the confusion. Moreover, the ISO14851 and ISO14852 tests at the heart of this certification are also specified by ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) in their proposed EU Microplastic legislation due to be published in 2022. These tests are used to determine whether or not a polymeric material is considered a microplastic.

6 of our product ranges are now TÜV ‘OK biodegradable WATER’ certified.

THE BIOGLITTER® RANGE 

  

Click here to see BIOGLITTER® EFFECTS

We remain committed to Bioglitter®Journey’  and the future development and optimisation of our products in terms of the environment, effects and performance in application.

Being able to differentiate Bioglitter® from other glitter is becoming increasingly important for manufacturers as customers become more aware of the environmental impacts of ‘traditional’ glitter. And we’re proud to offer all our customers that peace of mind when they see the Sigmund Lindner registered Bioglitter® logos on products made with Bioglitter®

Look for the Bioglitter® logo to ensure the glitter in the product you’re buying is GENUINE Bioglitter®

How Bioglitter® is created How Bioglitter® is created

Where isBioglitter® used?

Cosmetics

Cosmetic Bioglitter® is our COSMETIC compliant range of products.

Cosmetic Bioglitter® is suitable for use in cosmetic and personal care applications, including festival, nail & body art.

decorative and coatings industries

Deco Bioglitter® is our TECHNICAL range of glitters.  Formulated for use in coating, printing, art & craft products and other non-cosmetic applications.

art and education

Craft Bioglitter® is our range of loose glitters glitters for nurseries (Kindergarten), schools and retail.

Craft Bioglitter® is NOT suitable for use in cosmetics.

WHO USES BIOGLITTER®?

Find trusted brands, resellers and retailers

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Why isBioglitter® needed?

the plastic problem - time for change

The world is facing a major issue

The world is facing  a major problem with plastic pollution, and while glitter is only a small part of it, it is a contributing factor. “Plastic” glitter is defined as microplastics that take hundreds of years to degrade in the natural environment.

Recyclable

Due to its small size and use for a variety of single-use applications (cosmetics, cards, clothing, crafts, etc.), composting facilities are unlikely to be the “end” place for glitter. 

Glitter can get into  wastewater such as bathing, washing art materials or washing clothes, and after water treatment it can end up in our lakes and rivers. Once in the natural environment, plastic glitter, like other microplastics, can cause physical harm to small organisms and eventually enter the food chain.

A great idea

We Thought Glitter Needed a Total Rethink

The glitter is unlikely to end up in the compost, so compostable glitter doesn’t solve the problem. The key to success is removing polymeric materials from plastic glitter, which do not biodegrade quickly and safely in natural freshwater environments.

Bioglitter® is the first of its kind and sets the standard for eco-friendly glitter. It is designed to biodegrade quickly and safely in natural freshwater environments. Sigmund Lindner GmbH uses the TÜV “OK Biodegradable Water” certification as a simple and clear way of communicating this fact to customers.

It is also important to note that the extent of glitter microplastic pollution is relatively small compared to other forms of microplastic pollution such as car tire dust, detergent fibers from man-made fabrics and weathering of exterior coatings .

Although plastic flash has a small impact on overall microplastic pollution, it still makes a difference. That’s why we’re passionate about driving, innovating and continuing to develop our award-winning Bioglitter® product range.

How DoesBioglitter® Work?

Bioglitter® is insoluble in water and requires environmental bacteria and other environmental microorganisms to biodegrade.

Once in the natural environment, such as farmland, wastewater or rivers and lakes, microorganisms consume the biodegradable content, converting it into carbon dioxide, water and biomass.

Bioglitter® is completely durable in an environment free of microorganisms and bacteria .
No microorganisms = no biodegradation

The rate at which Bioglitter® biodegrades depends on local environmental factors such as heat, humidity and microbial concentration.

Bio Glitter

THE BIOGLITTER® JOURNEY… so far…   

How it all started

Through conversations with selected forward-thinking cosmetics manufacturers in 2010, we became increasingly aware of the potential problems of small plastic particles in the environment. As a glittering company, we feel a responsibility to help in any way we can and provide environmentally friendly alternatives.

It takes time to forge a new path forward, and we inevitably find a lot of ways not to! This is a huge challenge, however, Bioglitter is the culmination of years of research and development. A wide range of eco-friendly flash products, most of which are certified by TÜV Austria “OK Biodegradable Water”. It is considered to be the highest certification level of its kind in the world.

Original game changer – Bioglitter® SPARKLE

In 2016, we officially launched Bioglitter®, a metallic effect glitter, to the global market Bioglitter® SPARKLE. The world’s first flash agent with independent evidence of very high performance in natural freshwater biodegradation tests.

The product was well received and remains so today, winning the first award in the global cosmetics sector, the Gold Award for Innovation 2017, as well as the latest award PCHI Fountain Award China 2019 Green & Sustainable Category Winner.

Bioglitter® At the heart of SPARKLE is a special, high-tech form of naturally occurring biodegradable cellulose that is unique to Bioglitter. The core itself has excellent ecological credentials; Certified for composting in industrial compost (EN13432, EN14995, ASTM D6400, ISO17088) and home composting environments (TÜV OK compost HOME) and biodegradable wastewater with ISO15986 approval. However, simply talking about the biodegradability benefits of the glitter core does not confirm the biodegradability performance of the actual finished product or the glitter product as a whole.

Through independent testing to ISO14851 and ISO14852 fresh water biodegradability, a level of testing significantly harder than composting, and waste water biodegradation, we proved that the complete Bioglitter® SPARKLE product, core, coatings and all, biodegrades very well in the very challenging natural environment of rivers and lakes. The test showed the majority of the product degraded away in just a month.  This very high level performance, official expressed as ‘biodegradability well progressed’, was only 3 percentage points away from meeting the incredibly high performance criteria required to achieve TÜV’s fresh water biodegradable certification.

This result proved the technical principles of our base technology, manufacturing methods and Bioglitter® would biodegrade unhindered after conversion to a finished Bioglitter® product. With this we had a solid foundation on which to build our R&D efforts.

Bioglitter® PURE, the World’s first independently certified fresh water biodegradable glitter

With Bioglitter® SPARKLE providing us with a solid foundation on which to build and develop, we innovated a new product, TÜV ‘OK biodegradable WATER’ certified Bioglitter® PURE. A level of certification considered the highest of its kind in the world.

In 2018 we launched the prototype version of Bioglitter® PURE at the largest cosmetic raw materials industry exhibition, in-cosmetics global and again received international acclaim, picking up a second in-cosmetics global – Gold for Innovation 2018.

Bioglitter® PURE uses the same cellulose core as Bioglitter® SPARKLE, but we’ve combined that with a novel coating technology.

Opalescent Effect Glitter Reinvented – Bioglitter® PURE

Due to the physical and chemical properties of naturally derived raw materials it is not possible to re-create the structure of a plastic iridescent effect glitter. Therefore, we have had to take a completely different approach and reinvent the effect in an eco-friendly way.  Our ‘Natural Colour’ range was our first offering in this unique type of glitter. ‘Opal’, a mother of pearl effect and ‘Vivid’, a strong metallic effect, both joined the range in 2020 and are our most recent colour ranges in the PURE product portfolio.

All Bioglitter® PURE products do not contain reflective aluminum layers. This makes them different from Bioglitter® SPARKLE or Bioglitter® HOLO products. The absence of aluminum enhances formulation compatibility and chemical resistance, especially acidic or alkaline water-based formulations with higher surfactant content.

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Bioglitter® SPARKLE obtains TÜV “OK biodegradable water” certification

In 2021, Bioglitter® SPARKLE technology was upgraded with the launch of the Deco Bioglitter® SPARKLE GC and Craft Bioglitter® GC series. These products have been added to the list of TÜV “OK Biodegradable Water” certified products provided by Ronald Britton . Another important step in the Bioglitter®  journey .

Bioglitter® HOLO …the one everyone has been waiting for!

2022 ushers in a hopeful post-COVID world, and with it the launch of Bioglitter ® HOLO ! This was the most challenging product development to date and lasted nearly 4 years.

Bioglitter® HOLO completes the trio of glitter effects;

  • Metallic effect – Bioglitter® SPARKLE
  • Opalescent effect – Bioglitter® PURE
  • Finally, the holographic effect – Bioglitter® HOLO

plans for the future

Bioglitter® ‘s” journey”  will continue to evolve, upgrade and optimize in the future, covering multiple areas; as new discoveries and technologies emerge, the raw materials we use, color effects in response to market needs and performance improvements in applications.

So stay tuned to this space!

Bioglitter® – Setting the standard for certified eco-friendly glitter

#GuiltFreeGlitter FOR ALL is our goal!

OurBlog

  • Vogue – “But it’s Bioglitter, the only cellulose glitter that will actually decompose naturally”

    Click to view Vogue ‘Is There A Eco-Friendly Way to Have Glitter in Our Makeup?’ article.    

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  • Beware FAKE Bioglitter®!

    It’s come to our attention that some glitter suppliers in territories such as China are using our Bioglitter® branded data sheets, product information sheets to pass-off unknown and inferior glitter products as Bioglitter®. We have also seen test reports that are fake and misleading. How to Check Bioglitter® is Genuine…? 1. Genuine Bioglitter® is ONLY […]

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  • Ronald Britton Ltd Announces Sale of Bioglitter™ Business to Sigmund Lindner GmbH

    Ronald Britton Ltd Announces Sale of Bioglitter™ Business to Sigmund Lindner GmbH   Ronald Britton Ltd is pleased to announce the sale of its Bioglitter™ business to Sigmund Lindner GmbH, a leading manufacturer of sustainable and innovative products for the cosmetics, coatings and printing industries.  In a move that will ensure business continuity and the […]

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Get InTouch

If you have a question, some feedback or just want to get in touch with us, then please use the contact form below and leave us a note - we'd really love to hear from you!

Our Address:
Sigmund Lindner GmbH, Oberwarmensteinacher Str. 38, 95485 Warmensteinach, Germany
Our Phone Number:
+49 (0) 9277 / 994 0