Sustainable cosmetics

What does it mean?

Prof. Dr. Karl Lintner

KAL’IDEES S.A.S.
France
 The three elements of « Sustainable Development »?

ENVIRONMEN SOCIETY ECONOMY

T
• The cosmetic market is estimated at ≈200 billion$ worldwide.
• Chemical industry sales worldwide are ≈3300 billion $;
• Chemicals used in the cosmetic products rarely surpass 5% of the
consumer sales price
• > The value of cosmetic chemicals altogether hovers around 10 billion USD
$, that is 0,3% of chemical sales…

• Consequently, any contribution by this industry to “sustainable

development” will not do much to “save the planet”, even if cosmetic
products were totally disappearing from the market!
 Definition of « sustainability »?
• Trying to meet the needs of the present, without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

• Sustainability is more than environmental impact – it means

achieving long term prosperity for all.

The challenge is achieving this in a finite world.

???
Useful surface

The « oxymoron »
 Are we Sustainable?
As a species, as countries, as industry branches?

ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY ECONOMY

But…
Traditional x Innovator
Why are we interested in COSMETICS in this seminar today?

Do we really need cosmetics?

• Egyptians: « would not be caught dead without it »!

• ‘A woman without paint is like food without salt’

– Plautus (254 BC – 184 BC)

• ‘A woman without perfume has no future’

– P. Valéry (or Coco Chanel?)

Proprietary and Confidential

Ten steps to sustainability
a guide from COSMETICS EUROPE
 Know what sustainability is
 Understand why sustainability is good for your business: profitable!
 Appoint a « sustainability champion » within the company: authority & resources
 Check who can help you: local gvmt, NGOs, industry associations

 Assess your company’s impacts (environmental, social, economic):

cradle to cradle
 Identify areas where you can act
 Devise your sustainability strategy in the short to medium term: measure and review!
 Build a roadmap and action plan: targets and deadlines!
 Start your own journey to sustainability: start small; realistic targets

 Regularly review progress and maintain communication

Rather elementary stuff, nothing specific to the industry

 Cosmetic Industry: particular aspects
 Ingredients
 Suppliers
 Packaging

 Consumers and usages (incl. waste management)

 Marketing & Communication !

PRESSURE on Ingredients & Suppliers
 ISO 9001 QUALITY MANAGEMENT
 ISO 14001 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
 ISO 20400: Sustainable Procurement
 ISO 26000 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
 Corporate Social Responsibility
 RSPO and NAGOYA protocol
 GREEN CHEMISTRY (12 principles)
 Natural and organic certifications…
Engagement
Control asserted
Being an example
Excellence
A RATHER COMPLEX SYSTEM…
What can we do in practice?
Technicaps = bakelit
COSMETICS EUROPE
 LCT and LCA: not for everyone…

• The concept of Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) is

an approach to becoming mindful of
how everyday life affects the environment.

• The purpose of this approach is to avoid

adverse effects that may counteract
improvements made in other life cycle stages.
 LCA
• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a structured, internationally
standardised concept for quantifying the emissions, resources
consumed, as well as potential environmental and health impacts
that are associated with goods and services (products).

• LCA takes into account the product’s full life cycle: from the
extraction of resources, production, consumption and recycling up
to the disposal of remaining waste.
Standard Life Cycle Analysis

• not always available or easily applicable to

cosmetic products
• will need some refinement in this sense.

• Both Life Cycle Thinking and Life Cycle

Assessment are most advanced on the
environmental aspects and have the potential
to include economic and social aspects, the
other two pillars of sustainability.
https://youtu.be/UPB3gdWAkmA

https://youtu.be/UPB3gdWAkmA
What impacts the sustainability of a shampoo?
Source of impact:

Personal Care produts: 5% direct vs. 95% supply chain

Reducing water temperature…
Is dry shampoo the solution?
 Consumer influence (and education?)
• According to research, 80% of UK consumers prefer aerosols to roll-on or
deodorant stick

• With 19 million cans of female aerosol deodorants per year, the reduction of the
size of the cans (higher compression) 24 tons of aluminum conserved (Unilever)
Conclusion and Take-home message:
 True sustainability is a mirage
 The world lives beyond its means
 Durable growth (of population, raw material use and profits) is
impossible on a finite surface
 At best, we should aim for a sustainable equilibrium state
 We are still even far from that, and it is not « human nature »

Nevertheless: In order to get even there, every contribution is

useful and necessary
 Cosmetic industry and all its partners must continue to work in
that direction
 Tools exist
 Let’s put them to more extensive use!
Further reading…
After all, it has been shown that
Sustainability is profitable, even in the
short to medium term!