Wella Company: Insights into eco-friendly revamp of salon color developer line
As the demand for sustainable beauty solutions continues to rise, Wella Company is addressing this trend with the launch of a more sustainable version of WELLOXON PERFECT, the brand's salon color developer product line. This new formulation represents a significant step in Wella's commitment to enhancing environmental responsibility while maintaining high performance standards.
In this CosmeticsDesign Q&A, Hilary Crnkovich, Global Communications and Sustainability Officer, and Peter Coles, Chief Scientific Officer at Wella Company, provide detailed insights into the development of the new WELLOXON PERFECT, including the product line's sustainable features such as its vegan formulation, carbon-reduced hydrogen peroxide, and eco-friendly packaging. Additionally, they outline the key challenges encountered during development and share the strategies employed to overcome them, offering a comprehensive look at how Wella is integrating sustainability into its product offerings and operational practices.
CDU: Can you tell us more about the inspiration behind launching the new more sustainable version of WELLOXON PERFECT?
Hilary Crnkovich (HC): Customers and consumers are increasingly interested in more sustainable hair products and vegan formulations. The Wella Professionals brand already offers some vegan permanent color lines in sustainable packaging, including tubes made from 100% recycled aluminum and caps made from recycled material.
Revamping the WELLOXON PERFECT developer, which can be used together with those products, now enables salons in North America and Europe to provide a Wella permanent hair color service that is both vegan and more sustainable than before the WELLOXON PERFECT revamp.
CDU: What were the key challenges faced by Wella Company in developing this more sustainable product, and how were they overcome?
Peter Coles (PC): The redesign and revamp of WELLOXON PERFECT required a multidisciplinary team effort. This new product line was designed with sustainability top-of-mind, and we explored the entire product life cycle.
We considered and reimagined every aspect, from the ingredients in the formula and how they get produced, to packaging design, material and technologies, as well as the movement along our supply chain and the transport of our products to salons. But we didn’t stop once the product reached the salon. We also evaluated product use and performance during a stylist’s color services, including water consumption required for rinsing, and the final recyclability of the packaging.
Finally, we commissioned a screening lifecycle assessment of the product which found that the new WELLOXON PERFECT salon color developer achieves an impact reduction on carbon emissions and water scarcity based on a combination of all the improvements, as compared with the previously offered product.
CDU: The press release mentions that WELLOXON PERFECT’s formula is vegan and formulated without ingredients derived from animals. How did Wella Company ensure the product maintains its high-quality performance with these changes?
PC: The interest in vegan professional hair color services continues to rise. While we were inspired to meet this consumer need, we knew we needed to do so while also maintaining Wella Company’s high product quality and safety standards.
Each ingredient used within our portfolio of leading products is carefully reviewed to ensure that it meets or exceeds the highest safety standards for consumers, salon clients, and professionals.
With WELLOXON PERFECT’s upgraded formula – vegan and formulated without any ingredients derived from animals – salons can further grow their business by meeting the needs of eco-conscious clients. When paired with one of Wella Professionals’ vegan color lines, including Koleston Perfect, Illumina Color, and Blondorplex, the first two of which are packaged in 100% recycled aluminum tubes with caps that are made from recycled material and can be recycled, salons can offer their clients a fully vegan, more sustainable permanent hair color service than they could before the new WELLOXON PERFECT developer became available.
CDU: Could you elaborate on the partnership with Evonik to produce carbon-reduced hydrogen peroxide for WELLOXON PERFECT? How significant is this partnership in achieving sustainability goals?
PC: We continuously work with companies across our global and regional supplier network for new solutions to drive positive change. Evonik is one of the world’s leading specialty chemicals companies, and a trusted partner in supporting our efforts to improve our environmental footprint and provide superior performance for our consumers.
Through our partnership, we’re able to deliver the first product in the beauty and cosmetics industry using carbon-reduced hydrogen peroxide created by Evonik for Europe. This ingredient is certified to reduce carbon emissions, compared with the hydrogen peroxide used in the previous formula. We are working with our supplier network to expand the sourcing of carbon-reduced hydrogen peroxide across other regions.
CDU: The new bottle design uses multi-layer molding technology and up to 70% post-consumer recycled plastic. How did Wella Company decide on this specific packaging design, and what are the expected environmental benefits?
PC: When redesigning the WELLOXON PERFECT bottle, our goal was to use more sustainable materials while maintaining the recognizable bottle design and handling experience to which professional stylists are so accustomed. The previous bottle used a single layer of virgin plastic, which both protected the product quality on the inside and was strong enough on the outside to hold up during transportation and on the shelf.
The new design achieves the same result by using multiple layers, which in total are made from up to 70% post-consumer recycled plastic. The bottle is also designed to be 100% recyclable, except for the safety seal, in countries where a recycling system is established.
The redesign follows the recent transition we made to using 100% recycled aluminum for our Wella Professionals Koleston Perfect color tubes. We identified the most sustainable packaging options available in the design phase of both products through an industry-leading science-based assessment.
The WELLOXON PERFECT packaging furthers Wella Company’s material circularity efforts and can save approximately 90 metric tons of plastic per year compared to the previous product.
CDU: How does the optimized bottle shape contribute to reducing the carbon footprint during transportation?
PC: The optimized bottle design integrates flat sections on each side which allow bottles to fit together more closely. As a result, 25% more bottles can fit on each transport pallet, so fewer trucks are needed to deliver each load, resulting in less carbon emissions from transportation.
In addition, we reduced the weight of each bottle which, combined with the use of up to 70% post-consumer recycled plastic, also contributes to a reduced carbon footprint, as outlined in a screening life cycle assessment of the product that we commissioned a third-party sustainability consultancy to conduct.
CDU: The press release mentions an easy rinsing technique developed by Wella Company’s R&D stylists and Education team. Can you share more details about this technique and its benefits?
PC: Heating water and water consumption are among salons’ biggest costs. On average, the process of rinsing and shampooing during a client’s hair color service uses nearly 31 liters of hot water.
Our latest hair-washing technique, developed by Wella Company’s R&D and Education team, places a special emphasis on emulsifying the color before washing, making it easier and faster to wash color from the hair in a few simple steps. Wella Professionals’ newest technique can save up to six liters of water during every color service – if widely adopted by our stylists, this technique from the No. 1 Salon Color Brand in the world, has the potential to make a tremendous positive impact on salons’ water consumption and the water footprint of our products.
CDU: What steps has Wella Company taken to educate stylists and salons about the new sustainable practices and techniques related to WELLOXON PERFECT?
HC: Wella Company works with hundreds of thousands of beauty professionals, from independent to salon-based stylists, including many who operate or work in small businesses.
We have a dedicated online education platform which is free to access and available to all. The Wella Education Team is incorporating our new, more sustainable rinsing technique into this platform and in face-to-face seminars with our customers around the world.
Through online, bite-sized modules and in-person sessions, our customers can learn about our products and services—including everything they need to know about WELLOXON PERFECT—along with examples of best practices and how positive choices can help reduce energy and carbon emissions, better manage water usage, limit waste, and promote recycling.
CDU: The screening life-cycle assessment found a reduction on carbon emissions and water scarcity for the new WELLOXON PERFECT. What are Wella Company's future sustainability goals, and how does this product align with them?
HC: As the foundation of every permanent color service in the Wella Professionals portfolio, the sustainable improvements in the new WELLOXON PERFECT developer are an important step in our ongoing journey towards a positive impact on the planet through our entire line of professional products.
The revamp of WELLOXON PERFECT demonstrates how we are working to embed sustainability imperatives from product development all the way through in-salon use. It also serves as a guide for how we can approach and implement more sustainable innovations from ingredients and formulations to packaging in other parts of Wella Company’s portfolio of professional and retail hair color and care, nails, and beauty tech brands.
CDU: Can you talk about Wella Company’s broader sustainability strategy and how the new WELLOXON PERFECT fits into that strategy?
HC: Since we became a stand-alone business in 2020, we have worked to embed Environmental and Social Impact at our core. Our ESI framework, which guides our journey to reducing our impact on the environment while improving social impact over the course of our future, is made up of three pillars: People, Planet, Products. You can learn more in our Environmental and Social Impact 2022 report.
The new WELLOXON PERFECT is a powerful example of our three-part strategy in action. It demonstrates our efforts to care for people across our value chain; protect the natural resources of our planet through less water usage, reusable packaging and waste reduction; and develop more sustainable products and formulations.
CDU: How does Wella Company aim to continue innovating in sustainability across its portfolio of professional and retail hair color and care, nails, and beauty tech brands?
HC: Sustainability considerations are included in our innovation and product development processes, We have set measurable goals across our company’s operations and are working towards them. We aim to improve and are working to build a future portfolio of products that are high performing, innovative and integrate sustainability whenever possible.
For example, that includes using materials like recycled plastic, recycled aluminum and recycled cardboard in our packaging where possible and also looking for solutions to reduce some packaging needs over the long term. In other examples, we strive to expand our use of carbon-reduced hydrogen peroxide in developers and aim to replace today’s conventional ingredients with alternatives to create vegan formulas. And for product usage, one example includes sharing techniques for stylists to use less water during a service.
CDU: Lastly, what message would you like to convey to Wella Company's customers and partners regarding the company's commitment to sustainability and the importance of adopting more eco-friendly practices in the beauty industry?
HC: While we are just midway through our fourth year as an independent beauty company, we believe we are progressing on our environmental and social impact journey.
We continue to collect and evaluate comprehensive environmental and social data from across our business for our ESI reporting. Our second ESI Report will outline and illustrate progress updates on each Pillar of our environmental and social impact commitments and goals.
We aim to build the best beauty company in the industry, one which thrives when the industry thrives. Our commitment to People, Planet and Products is a building block to our strategic growth agenda.
