Pushing the boundaries of sustainability

LONDON – The winners of the inaugural Sustainable Beauty Awards were announced at a dedicated awards reception in Paris last week. The inaugural awards reception was hosted at the Paris Marriott Champs-Elysées, and attended by over 160 executives.

Organised by Organic Monitor, the aim of the Sustainable Beauty Awards is to give recognition to cosmetic and related firms who are pushing the boundaries of sustainability in the beauty industry.

Speaking at the awards reception in Paris, Amarjit Sahota, founder and president of Organic Monitor, said, “As well as giving industry recognition, we hope the awards will inspire others in the beauty industry to take the green road.”

Inaugural awardees

Reflecting the diverse nature of sustainability, the Sustainable Beauty Awards winners comprise dedicated natural & organic cosmetic firms, as well as multinationals involved in finished products and ingredients. Award winners were chosen from three finalists, selected from over 100 international entries.

Sustainability Pioneer The winner is L’Oreal USA – Garnier for its beauty brigade programme which diverts beauty packaging from landfill. Working with Terracycle, the programme has collected 2.5 million pieces of packaging waste and upcycled it into new products. Organic Monitor commends the programme because of the high environmental footprint of packaging waste, which comprises a third of household landfill waste.

The Greek company Apivita is sustainability pioneer runner-up because of the social impact of its pastilles project. In partnership with MedicinsSans Frontiers, Apivita launched sweet pastilles in 2012 with all proceeds given to social causes.

Sustainability Leadership Weleda is winner of the sustainability leadership award because of its value-creation model. Since 1921, the Swiss company has spearheaded a number of projects that cover various aspects of sustainability.

The flavours & fragrances multinational Firmenich is runner-up for its holistic approach to sustainability, which involves partnering with NGOs and stake-holders.

Sustainable Packaging The award winner is France-based Laboratoires Expanscience for the reduced packaging footprint of its Mustela range of baby care products. By deploying the ecodesign approach, it is removing about 60 tonnes of plastics from product packaging.

The Irish company You Organic Skincare is runner-up for the low environmental footprint of its novel packaging. It uses aluminium foil packaging pouches for its organic body care products.

Sustainable Ingredient International Flavors & Fragrances is winner with LMR Rose Water Essential. The ultra-concentrated material has a significantly lower ecological impact than traditional rose waters.

AkzoNobel Surface Chemistry is runner-up with Recentia serum. Produced by Zeta Fraction technology, the material is produced by a novel sustainable processing technique.

Green Formulations Jasmin Aromatique is winner with its range ofAir Max 95 20th Anniversary