European Sustainability Summit

The European edition of the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit will feature green materials, new technologies and marketing developments. For the first time, the summit will look at the disruptive influence of new technologies on cosmetic formulations and marketing. Organized by Ecovia Intelligence, the summit will be hosted in Paris, Nov. 5-7, 2018. 


The opening session, Sustainability Update, covers the broader sustainability issues in the beauty industry. Kurt L. Nübling, CEO and co-founder of Primavera Life, will give a keynote on “Cosmetics for a Sustainable Tomorrow.” Primavera is a European natural cosmetic and aromatherapy company. It is involved in a number of ethical sourcing projects and its purpose-built headquarters in southern Germany has been carbon positive since 2011.


Hannah Pitts from the Natural Capital Coalition will introduce the concept of natural capital, how it can be measured, and its implications to cosmetic and ingredient firms. Chris Sayner from Croda will give an update on sustainability reporting best-practices. P&G has made a pledge to have all its manufacturing sites zero waste to landfill. Jacques Euler, beauty sustainability program leader at P&G will give insights into how the cosmetics multinational is undertaking waste reduction programs. Grupo Boticário, one of the largest cosmetic companies in Latin America, will share its experiences in tackling sustainability. What are its key environmental and social priorities, and how do they vary from European companies? 


Monique Simmonds from the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, kicks off the Green Materials session. She will give details of new botanical actives that are making their way into personal care products. Royal Botanical Gardens is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, having around 7 million dried plants and over 19,000 living plant species. DuPont will explain how food side streams are becoming a rich source of cosmetic ingredients. Other topics include sustainable ingredients for hair conditioning, ethical alternatives to plastic microbeads and bio-based polymers for personal care products. The session adjourns with industry experts discussing solutions to common green formulation hurdles. 


Session 3 looks at how new technologies are having a disrupting influence on production, processing, supply chains, and marketing of cosmetic products. Elodie Mauger, international sales and product manager, Mibelle Biochemistry, will show how plant cell technology can be utilized to create novel actives. Its MossCellTec material is based on the protonema culture of the moss Physcomitrella patens. Another speaker will highlight the use of new technologies to create vegetable oils from sugars. The potential of blockchain technology will be discussed, whilst another speaker explores the use of artificial intelligence for customisation of beauty products. The panel discussion will involve speakers debating the transformational effect of these new technologies. 


The final session discusses the latest Marketing Developments associated with sustainable cosmetics. Oliver Gothe, CEO of Fair Squared, will explain how the vegan trend is permeating into the personal care industry. He will introduce vegan labels and outline the re-formulation challenges when removing non-vegan ingredients. With growing interest in skin biomes, Marie Drago from Gallinée will show how natural skin care products can maintain healthy skin eco-systems. Silvija Spehar, co-founder of Hemptouch, will outline the opportunities provided by cannabis-based ingredients in personal care products. Other topics include cosmetic sustainability claims, changing consumer lifestyles, and targeting the millennials. 
Co-hosted alongside the European edition of the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit is the 2018 Sustainable Beauty Awards. Taking place on the evening of November 6, the awards reception will honor those who are pushing the boundaries of sustainability in the beauty industry. 


Since 2009, the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit has been covering sustainability issues in the cosmetic & personal care industry. The international series of summits now takes place in the major geographic regions of the world. 


Organized by Ecovia Intelligence, the aim of the Sustainable Beauty Awards is to give recognition to operators who are pushing the boundaries of sustainability in the beauty industry. The awards ceremony will take place on November 6 at the Paris Marriott Champs-Elysées. 


Ecovia Intelligence (formerly known as Organic Monitor) is a specialist research, consulting & training company that focuses on global ethical product industries.