The 11th North American edition of the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit will be hosted as a virtual event. Because of the uncertainty created by the coronavirus crisis, the executive summit will take place on an online platform from 28-30 September.
For the first time in North America, the summit aims to help cosmetic & personal companies move towards a circular economy. The summit will discuss practical approaches to change product design, formulations, packaging, and consumption to move to circular systems. Eight key discussions points at this executive summit:
1. Product design and sustainability. There is a growing call for cosmetic & personal care products to be designed with sustainability in mind. Jay Bolus, President of McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry will explain how the Cradle-To-Cradle (C2C) Design Approach can help companies develop products so material loops are closed. Coty is the latest beauty companies to adopt this biomimetic approach; Calvin Klein’s CK Everyone recently achieved a Material Health Certificate at the silver level from the C2C Products Innovation Institute.
2. COVID-19 and sustainability. The coronavirus has shaken up the beauty industry, causing a multi-layered crisis. Ken Marenus, President of the Independent Cosmetic Manufacturers & Distributors (ICMAD), will discuss the impacts and the road to recovery. He will also outline the sustainability implications of the coronavirus crisis, highlighting the key lessons for future development.
3. Outlook for clean beauty products. The clean beauty trend continues to gain pace; new products are being introduced by indie brands, as well as large cosmetic companies. Mike Indursky, Founder and CEO of Hear Me Raw, will give some insights into how his brand has developed clean formulations. Tina Hedges, Founder of Loli Beauty, will share her experiences in marketing clean beauty products. What contentious chemicals do consumers look to avoid? What are issues when marketing clean beauty products?
4. Update on natural cosmetic regulations. Greenwashing is rife in the cosmetics industry, partly because of the absence of widely accepted definitions of natural, organic, and sustainable. An update will be given on the Natural Cosmetics Act, which aims to define ‘natural’ and ‘naturally derived ingredient’ terms in the personal care industry. Beautycounter, one of the advocates of regulations and industry standards, will discuss the timelines of the proposed regulation and implications.
5. Role of metrics on the green journey. It is becoming increasingly common for companies to set objectives to reduce greenhouse gases, energy use, water footprints, packaging waste, etc. However, what is not always clear is what methodologies and tools should be deployed. A dedicated workshop will discuss the methodologies and practical use of sustainability metrics. Their application in developing circular systems will also be covered.
6. Upcycling plant ingredients. Agricultural and forestry side streams are the starting point for a new generation of cosmetic ingredients. Tony Abboud from Renmatix will discuss the sustainability benefits of such green materials. He will give details on how his company has developed a new active ingredient (Celltice) from cellulose and lignin.
7. Sustainable alternatives to palm oil. Palm oil continues to be under the spotlight because of its link to deforestation in South-East Asia. With concerns about sustainable sourcing, many operators are looking at viable alternatives. Shara Ticku, CEO of C16 Biosciences, will show how it has developed a palm oil alternative from fermentation techniques. The New York-based start-up is using a proprietary yeast to make the oil from food waste and industrial byproducts.
8. Moving to packaging-free. With cosmetic & personal care companies under pressure to reduce their packaging impacts, there is growing interest in removing packaging altogether. Nick Gumery from Lush will show how the ethical cosmetics firm is marketing ‘naked’ (packaging-free) beauty products. Lush has opened Naked stores in Manchester, Berlin, Milan and Hong Kong. Nick will also give details of the company’s carbon-positive cork packaging initiative.
