THE EVOLUTION OF THE BEAUTY SECTOR
QUANTIS’ OVERVIEW OF SUSTAINABILITY, NEW CHALLENGES AND COLLABORATION AMONGST INDUSTRY PLAYERS
According to ‘Make Up the Future – Second Edition’,
the new report by Quantis, a leading environmental consultancy, which analyses
the evolution of the beauty sector six years on from the first edition, the
global cosmetics industry has reached a turning point and entered a new phase
of transformation, in which sustainability can no longer be considered an
isolated initiative, but a determining factor for resilience, competitiveness
and growth.
Since 2020, the year of the first report’s release,
the beauty market has continued to grow and evolve: revenues have risen by
almost 60%, driven by emerging economies and the rise of premium skincare,
whilst mergers and acquisitions have reshaped competition within the sector,
against an increasingly stringent regulatory backdrop. But that is not all. The
intensification of climate-related risks and rising consumer expectations are
driving cosmetics companies to integrate sustainability into their day-to-day
business decisions.
Based on Quantis’ scientific and data-driven approach,
the report is structured around three interconnected action plans: at industry,
company and product level.
At the industry level, the analysis shows that since
2020 the sector has grown rapidly, becoming more global, complex and
competitive. This evolution also brings with it an increase in risks linked to
environmental disruption, supply chain instability and growing pressure for
transparency and accountability. The beauty sector, now entering a new phase of
its evolution, faces a fresh challenge: undertaking a large-scale sustainable
transformation across the entire value chain, using sustainability as a lever
to weather any headwinds and make the sector more resilient and adaptable. It
is becoming increasingly clear that rising expectations regarding regulation
and transparency are accelerating collaboration. Stakeholders across the entire
value chain (raw material and packaging suppliers, manufacturers, retailers and
trade associations) are engaged in joint initiatives such as the Traceability
Alliance for Sustainable CosmEtics (TRASCE), the EcoBeautyScore (EBS) and the
Sustainable Packaging Initiative in CosmEtics (SPICE). This promotes data
harmonisation, traceability and common communication frameworks for consumers.
At a corporate level, the report highlights how,
compared to 2020, companies in the cosmetics sector have taken concrete steps
towards understanding their environmental impacts. They have accurately mapped
emissions, set targets, defined strategies and integrated sustainability at
every level of the organisation and throughout the value chain. In fact, around
95% of the industry’s climate impact stems from Scope 3 emissions, primarily
linked to the sourcing of raw materials and the production of packaging.
This makes procurement, R&D, marketing and
investment choices of fundamental importance in order to make strategic
decisions that view sustainability as a vehicle for value creation and risk
management.
At the product level, the report highlights how the
environmental impact of products is heavily influenced by daily use. Given that
the majority of emissions occur during the use phase – due to the use of hot
water for rinsing off cosmetics and the use of cotton pads for removing make-up
– it is estimated that the average European’s morning beauty routine generates
around 700 g of CO2, comparable to a full washing machine cycle – it becomes
clear that sustainability is not only linked to how products are made and sold,
but also to how they are used. What is clear is that, at product level,
sustainability is now driven by decisions that take into account the entire
product life cycle (LCA) – from ingredients to packaging, from the usage phase
to end-of-life – thanks also to stricter regulations, more robust data and
growing expectations from retailers.
So, in addition to using ingredients with a lower
environmental impact and defining end-of-life performance at the design stage –
through careful ingredient selection, formulation design and the balancing of
trade-offs well before the product is launched – consideration is given to the
intelligent use of water and the recyclability of packaging. Beyond the choice
of materials, thought is given to how to reconcile circularity and design.
Refill and reuse solutions have moved beyond the pilot phase, thanks to strong
collaboration between brands, consumers and retailers.
