Cosmetics and sustainability, a new duo for a better future. The two topics will be at the core of Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna 2024, from Thursday March 21st to Sunday March 24th. Green challenges and projects aiming at reducing the environmental impact of the cosmetics industry, from packaging to production, are developing more and more. New opportunities are changing the beauty world.
Sustainability is no longer a trend, but a value to be pursued at all costs. For years, the climate changes underway and the need to reduce the environmental impact of human activities to preserve the planet have guided government regulations and policies, as well as social movements all over the world.
All economic activities are involved in programs aiming at achieving climate neutrality with short-term objectives. Since 2015, the United Nations has launched the Sustainable Development Goals campaign, a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future”, with 17 pre-established and measurable objectives, some of which expire within 2030. The European Green Deal has set 2050 as the deadline for achieving climate neutrality on the European continent.
According to the “Make Up The Future” report prepared by Quantis, an environmental sustainability consultancy, raw material extraction and processing processes, excessive use of plastic for packaging (20%), transport (10%) and the phase of use of the product (40%) are the main factors that determine the impact of beauty on the environmental balance.
The cosmetics industry generates billion units of plastic packaging annually and contributes to the loss of million acres of forest.
Ingredient and raw materials
Ingredients and raw materials sector certainly plays a strategic role. During the 2023 edition of Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna it emerged how the sector, which was the protagonist of a dedicated area within Cosmopack, is at the centre of a growing awareness of the issue of sustainability and in search of more effective definitions and regulations than trivial references to concepts such as “natural origin” typical of the so-called “green-washing”. A round table hosted by Ecovia Intelligence, entitled “Green Ingredients for Sustainability”, underlined how the market is experiencing a huge transformation.
The environmental change called for by the market opens up new opportunities and development areas: new energy resources, the search for more effective active ingredients, waste management and their reuse are just a few topics on the agenda, but the first step is to establish standard criteria for evaluate the environmental footprint of a cosmetic product.
“There is confusion on what natural means”, highlighted Viktoria Potko, Label and Events Officer of Natrue, during the round table held on March 16th.
“According to recent research we have conducted, for many sustainability means using natural ingredients, for others the ban on animal testing, even if it is already banned in Europe. Consumers need to follow well-defined criteria when they buy a product. All information should be clear and transparent”.
New solutions from Biotech
Biotech as a new frontier for supplying raw materials for the cosmetic industry was the subject of the round table entitled “The Blue Biotech Wave: innovating for ocean preservation“.
Extracting raw materials from vegetable sources is no longer sustainable for the balance of the planet. “Most of the plants we know today are disappearing”, said Robert Evans, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy & Business Office of the Purissima brand during the talk.
“Technology can scale and become more efficient and cost-effective for the production of very complex chemistry, everywhere in the world and leaving natural biodiversity alone. We can anticipate evolution taking notice from how plants in nature are responding to climate changes”.
The opportunities offered by research are innumerable, and one of the most analysed sources, and still little exploited, is represented by the Oceans.
“We only know 5% of the oceans resources”, highlighted Giovanni Scapagnini, MD, PhD and Full Professor of Clinical Nutrition of the Department of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Molise during the round table. A small part of these resources is represented by algae and seaweed. “Seaweed is an incredible source of innovation and it has a strategic impact on the atmosphere. In addition, seaweed has properties and active ingredients that can have concrete applications for longevity ad anti-ageing in in areas such as health, cosmetics and nutritional market,” explained Scapagnini.
Unfortunately, the development of research in biotechnology is today hampered by a lack of understanding on the part of the consumer. Since the concepts of “clean beauty” and “natural cosmetics” have been strengthened in recent years, the use of synthetic ingredients in cosmetics has been viewed with suspicion, and consumers are often victims of fake news that link biotechnologies to such as genetic manipulation.
Packaging at the core
Cosmetics packaging is one of the elements with the greatest environmental impact. The massive use of plastic and the growing amount of microplastics dispersed around the planet are driving governments to issue increasingly stringent regulations. However, reversing the course is not immediate.
In cosmetics not all products to date can be recyclable, not all can be refillable, as highlighted at Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna 2023 on the occasion of the CosmoTalks session organized by Quantis entitled “Is 100 % circularity of cosmetics packaging achievable?”.
Today the packaging industry is moving along three lines of development: recycling, refillable and how to remove waste.
Concerning recycling, the goal is to reduce the amount of virgin plastic introduced into the planet. “Circularity and recycling mean putting a material back into a production line. To date, most of the plastic recycled from cosmetics is reused in different fields, such as in the construction and furniture sectors. Cosmetic packaging should be more circular”, explained Carlo Andriolo, CEO of Aliplast S.p.A.
“Recycling should provide higher quality plastics which can be used for cosmetics following the required safety standards.”
Recycling and its costs
The transition to mono-material packaging is certainly important, because it introduces more easily manageable and recyclable packaging into the market. It is a step that also involved the designers, who had to introduce specific guidelines.
“As a packaging company we are having to investigate and introduce new materials and designs which were not considered in the past,” confirmed Olaf Zahra, Chief Technical and Sustainability Officer of Toly Group during the round table. Zahra also analysed the cost of products made with recycled materials. “They shouldn’t cost more, because logically they use fewer resources”.
“Today, however, we buy recycled material at a higher price than virgin material, because the supply chain is not correctly balanced. It is an issue we should solve”.
The sustainable evolution of the cosmetics industry is represented by the increase on the market of refillable packaging solutions versus single use packaging. The search for suitable materials and design solutions still offers big opportunities, and refillable packaging will certainly be a key element for future development.
“Today there are already many refillable packaging solutions on the market. In reality, many barriers lie in the supply chain complexity, but the biggest challenge and at the same time, opportunity are represented by the relationship between brands retailers and consumers”, underlined Frederic Dreux, R&D Packaging Prestige Leader of Unilever Prestige.
“On the one hand, it is necessary to bring value to refill and justify the repurchasing of a product. Refilling must be easy, and fun and must reflect a new opportunity for extra connection with customers to share brand values. Even price strategy must take care of the benefits linked to sustainability: it is therefore necessary to invest in the premiumization of primary packaging, making it part of the beauty product experience”.
Could packaging be a piece of art?
Even Eva Lagarde, CEO & founder of re-sources.co, who moderated the round table during Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna 2023, underlined the need for a new role for packaging within the entire supply chain: “Packaging should no longer be considered as a waste . There are several solutions to reduce waste: by removing layers, for example, or by making more compact packaging”.
“But the first step must be redesigning packaging that goes beyond only containing a product. Cosmetic packaging must become something that the consumer wants to keep and reuse even for other purposes: a jewel, a piece of art”.