Green is the new black, says Organic Monitor
“The beauty industry has historically received negative media publicity for unethical business practices, however green appears to have become the new black,” says a company spokesperson.
According to the market researcher, L’oreal, Natura Cosmeticos, Shiseido, Kao, Hasbro, Colgate-Palmolive and Henkel were a representation of just how far beauty companies have come on the green road.
Cosmetic companies making the grade on other lists
Another study by Corporate Knights placed cosmetic company, Natura Brasil second as the most sustainable corporation in the world for its energy and waste productivity performance, a goal the company has had since 2007.
Procter & Gamble, Henkel, L’Oreal and Unilever were also listed in Corporate Knights top 100 sustainable corporations list.
Other companies like Unilever are making more sustainability targets via its Sustainability Living Plan, whilst Johnson & Johnson has launched its Healthy Futures 2015 initiative.
Sustainable Cosmetics Summit 2012
According to Organic Monitor, an upcoming Sustainable Cosmetics Summit to be held in New York next month will address the major issues companies face while measuring the environmental footprint of their products.
“Many cosmetic companies like P&G and L’Oreal are using lifecycle analysis tools; however, they are discovering multi-ingredient personal care products often have complex footprints that are difficult to accurately measure,” says the spokesperson.
Other topics to be addressed at the summit are to include; Do initiatives tackling climate change take precedent over biodiversity and ethical sourcing?, Do formulations containing natural ingredients take priority over the principles of green chemistry? And, with industry lists only considering large publicly-listed companies, how do privately-owned natural / organic cosmetic companies compare?
