Sustainable Cosmetics Summit Well Received

Practical sustainability initiatives for the beauty industry were extensively

discussed at the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit (www.sustainablecosmeticssummit.com), which came to a successful close in Paris at the end of October. Held at the Paris Marriott Champs-Elysées hotel, the summit was organized by Organic Monitor and brought together 180 senior executives from 26 countries.

Practical approaches to lower environmental and social impacts were the central theme of the three-day summit, with several speakers calling for positive action from the beautyindustry. Professor Dr. Michael Braungart, one of the featured speakers, challenged beauty companies to be more positive rather than lessening their guilt.

Alexis Kryceve, co-founder of Pur Planet, further stressed the importance of ethical sourcing in his paper on carbon offsetting.

Speakers in the opening session highlighted various sustainability initiatives for cosmetic and ingredient companies. Rainer Plum from the New Ethics Institute showed how CSR and sustainability were increasingly converging in the beauty industry. Filipe Sabara from Beraca shared his experiences in implementing sustainability programs for cosmetic ingredients. The Brazilian company is spearheading various social and ecological projects in the Amazon. Another paper by the Union for Ethical BioTrade provided latest findings from its Biodiversity Barometer, highlighting the rise of biodiversity in the corporate agenda.

An update of the leading European standards for natural and organic cosmetics was given in the Green Formulations session. Valerie Lemaire from Ecocert introduced the new labelling scheme for the harmonised Cosmos standard. New logos for Cosmos-Organic and Cosmos-Natural are in the pipeline, enabling consumers to clearly identify certified products. Julie Tyrrell gave an update on the NaTrue standard, including how the NaTrue label can be used by consumers to download ecological and ethical information from the Internet.

Some of the major technical and formulation issues associated with natural and organic cosmetics were also covered in the second session. A review was undertaken of the various emulsifier and surfactant systems for natural and organic products. The International Fragrance Association and CPL Aromas looked at the sustainability issues concerning natural and organic fragrances. David Reccole, founder of Couleur Caramel, went through the pitfalls of developing certified organic colour cosmetics.

Ido Leffler, co-founder of Yes To Carrots, opened the second day of the summit with his keynote, “Going Beyond Naturals and Product Differentiation.” Amarjit Sahota, founder of Organic Monitor, stressed how marketing had come to the forefront in the increasingly competitive natural cosmetics market.
Andrew Dixon from Burt’s Bees explained the sustainability ethos of Burt’s Bees, including a “Dumpster Dive” day at the American company in which employees get involved in waste management.

Also in the Marketing & Distribution Innovations session, Whole Foods Market shared its experiences in selecting and marketing natural cosmetics. According to the global natural food retailer, product design and packaging footprint were key factors when selecting new personal care products. The importance of online retailing was covered by LoveLula.com, outlining the pitfalls and challenges of this new marketing channel. Other papers looked at distribution, social media and consumer behavior.

Sustainable Packaging was the focus of the last session of the conference. Key speakers explored the gamut of sustainable packaging solutions available to beauty companies. Summit participants learned that cosmetic companies mainly focus on recycling and ecodesign to lower their packaging footprint, whereas the take-up rate of bioplastics remains low. Aveda was commended for its sustainable approach to packaging.

The next edition of the Sustainable Cosmetic Summit (New York, May 12-14, 2011) plans to further explore such issues.

More info:www.sustainablecosmeticssummit.com