Sustainable Cosmetics Summit Coming To NYC

How can the environmental impact of cosmetic and personal care products be reduced by using green ingredients and changing consumer behaviour? This is the main premise of the North American edition of the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit, which is scheduled to take place May 16-18 in New York City.

For the first time, the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit will discuss methods of encouraging responsible consumption of cosmetic and personal care products.

A number of life-cycle analysis studies show the highest environmental impact of cosmetic products is from raw materials, consumers (consumption phase) and post-use (disposal). With most cosmetic and ingredient firms focusing on raw materials and production processes, the consumption phase is often ignored. A major question to be addressed is: how can consumers be motivated to encourage the responsible purchase, use and disposal of cosmetic products to minimize environmental impacts?

Green ingredients in cosmetic formulations are another focus. The move towards green formulations is gaining momentum because of high consumer demand for natural & organic cosmetics, as well as diminishing supply of petrochemical feedstock. Speakers will discuss the growing use of plant and marine raw materials, the use of stem cell technology to cultivate cosmetic ingredients from plant sources and the potential of marine algae as a sustainable source of cosmetic ingredients.

With a growing number of food ingredients crossing over into cosmetic applications, Horst Rechelbacher (founder of Aveda and Intelligent Nutrients) will state the difficulties in formulating with organic food ingredients.

Discussions will also cover the social dimension of cosmetic products. Most cosmetic and raw material suppliers are preoccupied with environmental impacts when considering sustainability. How can cosmetic and ingredient firms make a social difference with their products? Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps will state how its fair trade sourcing projects have improved the lives of marginalized producers in Palestine and Sri Lanka.

Also, a large cosmetics company will demonstrate how social value can be created by CSR initiatives, human resources procedures, and customer-supplier relationships. In another presentation, Johnson & Johnson will highlight the challenges when juggling a diverse range of environmental and social issues in sustainability programs.

Michelle Thew, CEO of Cruelty Free International, will discuss alternatives to animal testing methods.

For the third consecutive year, the summit will host a CEO roundtable. Heads of natural & organic cosmetic brands will discuss key challenges concerning sustainability, market conditions, and consumer expectations (behaviour). The roundtable will comprise CEOs / founders of Weleda, Caudalie, Intelligent Nutrients, Hugo Naturals and Apivita.

An interactive workshop on green formulations will cap the three-day program. Judi Beerling of Organic Monitor will tackle the technical issues associated with using green ingredients. Practical advice will be given to formulators and product developers on how to use these green ingredients informulations.