Walmart and Target team up with cosmetic suppliers to improve sustainability performance

As part of this overall goal, the US retail giants have scheduled the Beauty and Personal Care Products Sustainability Summit​, for September in Chicago. 

The daylong event, organised by NGO; 'Forum for the Future', is set to bring together key players from across the beauty and personal care industries with the ambition of starting a conversation about a shared approach to product sustainability.

The retailers say the aim will be to map the landscape in which companies and organizations are operating, explore common concerns and identify where stakeholders can collaborate to bring better options to consumers.

"We believe that together we can catalyze innovation and create better products for customers, workers, and the environment through a collective approach that accounts for the whole supply chain," ​the website dedicated to the Summit, stated.

To date, individual cosmetic companies have been doing a lot of the work around product sustainability and as a result there has been a lot of varied initiatives and approaches, which have at times been confusing  for the consumer.

Thus, a Summit like this the retailers say, is an opportunity for harmonization and collaborative action within the sector.

Summits dedicated to sustainable processes​

As industry focus on sustainability continues to mount, Smithers Pira and GreenBlue’s Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) have also announced their intention for a new packaging event aimed at industry leaders.

Organizers for the 2015 event state their intention for participants from across the packaging supply chain to come together to “discuss, network, learn and debate the opportunities, technologies and challenges facing the industry now and in the future​”.

The event will comprise of meetings, site tours, exhibition, conference, workshops and receptions. Strategy and programming will be guided by a joint steering committee made up of SPC representatives, Smithers Pira and other industry stakeholders, the organizers state.