Barcelona, July 5, 2024. Within the framework of Beauty Sustainability Week, the Beauty Cluster organized different activities during the week in which the cosmetics, perfumery and personal care sector focuses on sustainability and how it influences within the industry. The event has had the support and sponsorship of Provital and Biogründl, companies that integrate sustainability in all their processes.
The week opened with a webinar in collaboration with Kantar in which it was confirmed that sustainability has become an imperative for brands, with 87% of the population wanting to lead a more sustainable lifestyle. Furthermore, 64% of consumers believe that it is the responsibility of companies to solve climate and environmental problems, while 74% believe that companies should contribute to a more just society. In this context, the beauty industry is under pressure to adopt more sustainable practices, such as reducing overpackaging and the use of plastics, as well as addressing concerns related to the carbon footprint or water footprint.
As the main event of the week, the Beauty Cluster once again celebrated Beauty Sustainability Day, which took place at the Palau Robert in Barcelona and brought together almost a hundred experts and professionals from the industry. Adrià Martínez, Project Manager of the Beauty Cluster, was in charge of presenting the day distributed in two blocks of four round tables, each with the ‘main topics’ that concern sustainability in the sector. At 9:30, the first round table began, discussing various topics related to the integration of sustainability into the value chain and how companies could incorporate sustainable practices at all stages of the value chain. In this case, the round table, moderated by Celia Campos, CEO and technical director of MuttaLab, featured the perspective of Júlia Gassol, Senior Project Manager of INÈDIT, Ariadna Simón, Account Manager & Sustainability of Croda, Ainhoa Salcedo, QHSE Technician of Provital and Diana March, Global Director of Sustainability at Eurofragance. All of them explained how they integrate sustainability in their respective companies and presented the different initiatives and projects that promote sustainability in their organizations and how it is achieved from raw materials.
Subsequently, the second round table revolved around the myths and legends of sustainability within the cosmetics and beauty sector. Mariano Lesser, from Aktiva Design, was the moderator of this table composed of Marcel Batlle, Strategic Designer at Batlle Group, Daniella González, R&D Technician at Equivalenza and Conxita Rusinés, ASG and People at Vytrus Biotech. The speakers agreed on the relevance of sustainability and that it is an issue that must be addressed as soon as possible and the importance of communicating it, and, especially, doing it in an appropriate way, knowing how to admit errors and the company’s intentions. They all emphasized the importance of addressing sustainability from the perspective of people as well, beyond the environmental point of view. Certifications and how to obtain them, as well as their procedures, also had space for debate in this round table.
After the coffee break, the session resumed to talk about a substantial element related to sustainability: packaging. This round table was moderated by the CEO of Virospack, Aïda Rodríguez and was composed of Sandra Merce, Marketing Manager of Dilograf, Daniel Sánchez, Commercial Director of RAFESA, Rosa González, Non-food Packaging Group Leader of AIMPLAS and Oriol Arán, QP Head of Product Engineering & Industrial Project Management at Quadpack. In this round table, professionals in the sector explained the latest innovations in packaging, as well as the latest updates in regulation and what solutions are now on the market to promote sustainability and circularity. Of course, greenwashing was also questioned and how companies dress certain packaging as ecological.
To close the day, at 1:00 p.m. the last round table was held under the name ‘Valuing Sustainability’, which addressed the point of view of value for consumers through the sustainability strategy of companies and how this value is perceived from different points of view of the value chain. The table was moderated by Víctor Segura, Growth Business Manager of Batlle Group and had the participation of Ariadna Sanz, Senior Project Manager of Inèdit, Laura Vallvé, QSHE Technician of Provital, Stefan Esser, Global Change and Innovation of the Selvans Foundation and Elvira Casas AINIA Supercritical Fluid Technologies. During this round table, it was argued that the interest in sustainability is not just a trend and that companies must work on this issue and promote sustainable consumption. The moderators agreed that there is a real interest in available products, but it conflicts when the actual time comes to make the purchase and the product has a higher cost. During this shared presentation, attendees were able to learn about some initiatives that are also developed by the public sector in favor of circularity and the upcycling of products and by-products.
And as a conclusion to the Beauty Sustainability Week, the Beauty Cluster, in collaboration with Inèdit, offered its partners the opportunity to participate in a practical workshop with the aim of analyzing the life cycle of products and services, learning about circular economy strategies and identify opportunities that allow linking business dynamics, objectives and challenges with circularity from a collaborative perspective.
