The cosmetic industry has gained incredible popularity over the last decade and with that the question arises what has been its environmental impact. Consumers are becoming aware of the environmental impact that this industry has. The cosmetic industry has been valued at $4.8B in 2022 and is projected to reach $8 Billion by 2030. Seeing this growth the industry is facing scrutiny over its high environmental impact. In this blog we will see some of the consequences that beauty products have throughout their lifecycle i.e. from sourcing the raw material to end of life that is disposing. Many top cosmetic science colleges in Maharashtra have included topics related to sustainable beauty into the curriculum to train future cosmetologists in the field.
Before seeing the problem first let’s see what is included in the life cycle of the full product. The life cycle of cosmetic products includes Sourcing raw material, manufacturing the product to its packaging distribution, consumer use and finally end of life process such as disposing, recycling and repurposing if you choose to. But how do you do that? It is done by something called Life-Cycle- Assessment or LCA. What is this LCA? In short, it is a detailed study used to evaluate the environmental impact of a product, its process or service throughout its life cycle. But the question arises that how are these things assessed? It can be done by looking into various aspects like what resources used, emission, and potential impacts across all stages mentioned above.
In this blog we will assess the factors that impact the environment across the product’s life cycle, identify the hotspots and recommend a few sustainable design strategies.
Life Cycle of a Cosmetic Product
1. Procuring, Sourcing, and Extraction of Raw Material: This step includes getting ingredients like plants and its extract and getting minerals.
Its Impact: Water used during cultivating of plants and land used and deforestation for mining and agriculture. In addition to this the emission that is seen during the transportation of this raw material to and fro.
2. Manufacturing of the Product: This stage involves the process of converting the accrued raw material into a finished product in some cases the raw material in itself needs processing before being converted into any sort of product. Then comes the process of packaging the product.
Its impact: Manufacturing includes industries and with that comes high energy consumption, high water usage and a lot of waste generation.
3. Distribution and Transportation: This is the most notorious stage of all as it covers the transportation and distribution of raw material, finished product and packaging and when you see the method of transportation most prominently air transport and the high emission that it causes.
4. Consumer Use: This phase sees how the product is used. While using the products we use water during application, we use energy for heating or mixing and the amount of waste that is generated at the end when you dispose of the container after use.
5. End of Life: Unless recycled or repurposed the disposal of the packaging and the container can lead to an immense increase in waste and land filling. And even if it is recycled the process of recycling can also cause emission.
After discussing the lifecycle and seeing the impact in each phase, we see that there are 4 aspects that need to be evaluated:
- Resources Depletion: In case of agriculture and using resources like plants, minerals, and non-renewable resources like fossil fuel and most importantly water which is required in each phase above in some or the other aspect.
- Energy Consumption: Throughout the life cycle of the product, you can see the sheer amount of energy consumption in terms of fossil fuel, which is included in raw material, manufacturing transportation, and during consumer use.
- Emission: The amount of greenhouse gases produced, and water pollution caused by waste disposal and emission caused during manufacturing and transportation has a very high impact on the environment.
- Waste generation: The waste generated during each stage and during end of life like disposing of packaging and the container into the landfills
After discussing the hot spots, what can we do to reduce the impact of the above-mentioned? Here are a few suggestions or as I say design driven strategies for carbon neutrality.
Design Driven Strategies for Carbon Neutrality
Let’s divide into 4 main principles:
1. Eco- Design:
a) Minimalist Packaging: During RnD, the packaging can be designed in such a way that it uses minimum material to package the product. It can also mean using recycled or recyclable material and also having fewer components in the design of the packaging.
b) Modular Packaging Design: It simply means using a basic unit that can be combined in different ways that can make the process more efficient and also reduces waste.
c) Multi-purpose Products: Products could be formulated in such a way that it can be used for multiple things. For example, a simple red lipstick can be used as a lipstick, a blush, and a color corrector.
2. Supply Chain Innovation: This includes sourcing the raw material locally that can reduce the emission caused by transportation and in turn support local farmers and vendors and also create variation and specificity and specialty in formulation. It also includes something called “carbon offset” which means that a company supports projects that reduce greenhouse gases and sort of form a balance that the company is causing.
3. Ingredient Innovation: Ingredients that are hard to find that need to be imported can be grown in a lab (lab-grown alternatives). It is called plant cell culture where ingredients are grown in a controlled environment and which in turn reduces agriculture issues as well. With this the formulation can be made with biodegradable material which can reduce environmental impact.
4. Business Model Shift: This means that companies can have refill stations. For example, companies like lush and bare necessities have provision to refill their lotion or shampoo bottles at their store that reduces packaging waste. We can also have solid formulations like deodorants that reduce the amount of packing used and also reduce CFCs that are used in deodorants which is responsible for ozone layer depletion.
Conclusion
Going through the life cycle of beauty products it is clear that this industry has a high carbon footprint. But this is not unfixable. Simple things like using a few materials, designing, or making products that do multiple things and sourcing ingredients smartly and locally can make a real difference. If we rethink the entire system with sustainability, the beauty industry can not only make us beautiful but can also make us truly planet friendly. If you are interested in a career in cosmetic science, pursuing a B.Sc. in Beauty Cosmetology can form the right foundation for your future goals. Good luck!