Sustainability in Personal careproducts and cosmetics

FRANCIS BLAKE
COSMOS-standard AISBL
124 Rue du Commerce, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium

Sustainability is now firmly established as a key public concern. What does this mean for personal care products? Francis Blake, Chairman of the COSMOS-standard AISBL (www.cosmosstandard. org), describes their approach.
It is significant that, even during this continuing worldwide recession, sustainability has remained as an important concern for both ordinary consumers and governments. In other words, it is here to stay and will only grow in importance as the world economy picks up.
The implications for industry are clear: keep up with these concerns and address them in your products, or be left behind. But just as consumers have embraced sustainability for both altruistic and selfish reasons, the same can be true for companies. It is not only about delivering what consumers want, it is also about ensuring the long term viability of supply chains, about minimising energy and other costs, and generally “future proofing” your business. Get it right and you have a win-win situation.
What are the essential parameters of sustainability in the context of personal care products and cosmetics? There are many definitions and ways of categorisation, but I have ...