Sustainability in focus: What to expect at the 2024 Sustainable Cosmetics Summit European edition

The upcoming Sustainable Cosmetics Summit – European Edition in Paris, running from October 23-25, is set to bring together leading minds and innovators from across the beauty industry to address the most pressing challenges and opportunities in sustainability. As the cosmetics industry grapples with complex legislation, biodiversity concerns, and increasing consumer demand for transparency and ethical practices, this summit offers a platform for in-depth discussions on the future of sustainable beauty.

Ahead of the event, CosmeticsDesign spoke with several key speakers to gain insight into their upcoming presentations, their thoughts on the trends shaping the industry, and what they are most excited for at this year's summit.

Here’s what they had to say. 

CDU: What are some of the key points you will be covering in your seminar at the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit?​

Pat Foley, President & Co-Founder at P2 Science​: I just love the chemistry of the materials we use every day, so I’ll definitely spend some time discussing what we’re excited about from molecular perspective. Performance is connected to the organic architecture of molecules, and that is what we focus on at P2.

Lisette Townsend, Global Business Development & Marketing Director at AAK Personal Care​: In the seminar, we will provide an overview of the increasingly complex field of sustainability legislation and take a more detailed look at the most important pieces of the European Green Deal. Some legislations are already in force, some are still in draft, and others are in implementation.

All will have a far-reaching and significant impact on the cosmetics industry, creating a ripple effect throughout the entire value chain, including global players who operate within the EU. Our presentation aims to take a holistic view, emphasizing the positive potential of the legislation, such as new opportunities for innovation and differentiation and for the cosmetic industry to lead the way in sustainable practices.

We will also consider some of the barriers for the different stakeholders, such as the time, money and effort needed for compliance, and how the regulations will impact the farmers and smallholders at the beginning of the supply chain.

Dirk-Jan Oudshoorn, Founder & CEO at Forestwise​: We will take a deep dive into which certification schemes we have adopted for our rainforest ingredients, what challenges we faced when adopting these schemes to our wild harvested ingredients in collaboration with the indigenous communities, and to what extent this has improved market access for deforestation free ingredients. We will also look at the features of our traceability app, and how this supports the compliance to the certification schemes. 

Gabbi Loedolff, Director of Buying at LUSH​: I’ll be exploring the opportunities for supporting environmental and social regeneration through the way we source ingredients, and highlighting opportunities for sustainable innovation across supply webs. 

Dr. Sally Gouldstone, Founder and Director at Seilich​: I'll be setting out the chief players of the triple planetary crisis and how they relate to the cosmetic/personal care industry, I'll be making clear the dependencies and impacts our industry has on the natural world. I'll be sharing the incredible opportunity our industry has to become a nature positive industry; as a major consumer of non-food agricultural products we stand in a hugely influential position to 'bend the curve' and begin to have a net positive impact on the natural world.  

Jo-Anne Chidley, Founder​ ​at Beauty Kitchen UK Ltd​: Microalgae is revolutionising the skin care industry, emerging as a powerhouse ingredient that combines remarkable efficacy with circular environmental benefits. These microscopic organisms are packed with potent antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that nourish and protect the skin.

Studies have shown that microalgae extracts can significantly boost collagen production, enhance skin hydration, and provide powerful anti-aging effects. Unlike traditional skin care ingredients, microalgae are incredibly sustainable, they grow rapidly, require minimal resources, and can be cultivated in controlled environments without the need for arable land or freshwater, the absorb co2 and generate oxygen and energy that is sold back to the electricity grid.

This makes them an eco-friendly alternative to resource-intensive ingredients, aligning perfectly with the growing consumer demand for sustainable beauty products.

CDU: What key trends or innovations in sustainable beauty do you believe will have the most significant impact on the cosmetics and personal care industry in the coming year?​

Pat Foley, President & Co-Founder at P2 Science​: Cleanical beauty, or clean products with performance data and clinicals to support efficacy. More forestry side stream-derived products; P2 is in great company with startups like Boreal Bioproducts and Lignopure. Also regenerative agriculture-derived natural raw materials and fully transparent and traceable supply chains. 

Lisette Townsend, Global Business Development & Marketing Director at AAK Personal Care​: Meeting new environmental and social standards will require brands to rethink formulations, packaging, and ingredients and modify production processes to minimize waste and emissions, which will impact the industry. These changes are happening now and will continue in the coming year and beyond.

Brands are looking at their entire supply chain to ensure sustainability, and there will be more transparency around how they formulate and source their products. We are already seeing the development of new ingredients and formulations to reduce reliance on petrochemicals, and upcycling is gaining traction with brands using ingredients, such as food by-products, to minimize waste and support a circular economy.

We also see an increasing emphasis on waterless formulations and water-efficient production methods, refillable formulations, and a need for readily biodegradable ingredients and packaging.

Dirk-Jan Oudshoorn, Founder & CEO at Forestwise​: We believe the implementation of European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) that will become applicable on 30 December 2024, will have a significant impact on the sustainable sourcing practices of cosmetics companies, as a substantial part of ingredients commonly used in cosmetics are derived from commodities that are on the EUDR list. We see that more and more companies are asking for traceability and transparency in the supply chain. Not only for products that are on the EUDR shortlist but also for other products.

Gabbi Loedolff, Director of Buying at LUSH​: Solid products that reduce (or eliminate) the need for packaging. Transparency across the supply chain and demand for formulations that use beautiful ingredients that are not only great for the skin, but also have a positive environmental and social impact. 

Also products that offer a comprehensive, holistic wellness experience to users.  I also believe we’ll continue to see a desire for authenticity from brands, and the need for brands to be able to substantiate claims around products, impact and ingredients to build consumer trust and loyalty.  

Dr. Sally Gouldstone, Founder and Director at Seilich​: Speaking as a conservation scientist rather than a beauty professional, I can say that I’m really excited to see issues such as nature positivity, biodiversity accounting and natural capital gain traction across a variety of industries around the globe (e.g. the biodiversity net gain policy in the development industry in the UK).  I think that the cosmetics industry in particular is ripe for taking these ideas forward, given our direct dependence on the natural world for many of our raw materials. 

As nature related recommendations and guidance (such as the TNFD​) become engrained in sustainability policy over the coming years, it will be interesting to see how the industry rises to the challenge of accounting for our impacts on biodiversity. 

Jo-Anne Chidley, Founder​ ​at Beauty Kitchen UK Ltd​: The skin care industry has taken notice of microalgae's potential, with a surge in products featuring these innovative ingredient and as over 95% of all microalgae’s haven’t even been identified yet there is more innovation to come, they also compliment the inside out approach to beauty where your diet is just as important as you topical skin care.

 The other trends this year is finding those sustainable, natural and effective ingredients to go head to head with the rise is derma skin care e.g. Retinoids AKA Vitamin A with Sustainable provitamin A (beta-carotente), Nicotinamide also known as niacinamide AKA Vitamin B with Sustainable natural Vitamin B: in plant extracts and Ascorbic Acid aka L-ascorbic acid AKA Vitamin C with Sustainable natural Vitamin C: in plant extracts. 

Generally plant extracts have many additional ingredients and benefits are kinder to your skin by working in harmony and generally have great sustainability credentials. ​They also possess high levels of desirable actives such as citral, flavonoids, limonene, phenolics, linalool, thymol, eugenol, carvacrol and monoterpenes – to name just a few.

There is a drive to find regenerative and alternative ways of growing and harvesting plant extracts like Plant Milking, vertical farming and of course upcycled ingredients that are now being developed to replace either unsustainable natural ingredient, think Palm oil derivatives for emulsions or washes from coffee oil a by product of the coffee industry.

What we need to remember is innovation using circular principles will ensure we are not creating other problems, everything on this planet is interconnected and has a symbiotic relationship with something else, we have to take the time to understand all the impact areas not just efficacy which what we normally look for in our industry

CDU: What are you most looking forward to at the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit this year?​

Pat Foley, President & Co-Founder of P2 Science​: Companies showcase their best thinking at this summit, what could be better? I’m looking forward to seeing how people are innovating in general, and specifically how they are making better products with better molecules.

Lisette Townsend, Global Business Development & Marketing Director at AAK Personal Care​: We find the summit is an invaluable opportunity to connect with other industry leaders, brands, and sustainability experts and gain a deeper insight into how the different industry players are integrating sustainability into their operations. Networking at the summit in the past has led to new partnerships and collaborations.

This year, we are bringing members of our marketing, regulatory, and product innovation teams to the event to learn about what’s new and join in the discussions on evolving trends and regulations. We can’t wait!

Dirk-Jan Oudshoorn, Founder & CEO at Forestwise​: Gaining insights and getting inspired from the stories from industry colleagues and partners about their journey's towards a more sustainable beauty industry, and learning from each other's challenges and best practices to increase positive social and environmental impacts throughout the value chain. 

Gabbi Loedolff, Director of Buying at LUSH​: The opportunity to connect with a wealth of knowledge and experience, to have meaningful conversations and then move from conversation to action.  

Dr. Sally Gouldstone, Founder and Director at Seilich​: I'm really looking forward to seeing how the industry responds to some of the points I'll be raising in my talk!  Teasing biodiversity apart from the often conflated and more widely accepted sustainability topics of pollution and climate is no easy task, but it's high time the industry hit the issue head on.  I'm keen to see who else out there is also keen to begin to make change in this area.                                                                                                

Jo-Anne Chidley, Founder​ ​at Beauty Kitchen UK Ltd​: The bringing together of the industry to focus in on sustainability and the power of collaboration. We no longer live in a complicated world; we live in a complex world, and with complexity you have to collaborate to solve the problems we face as an industry. I can't wait to meet everyone. 

For more information on the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit, visit the event website here​.