Top cosmetics players unite on initiative for sustainable packaging

24 May 2018 --- The official launch of the Sustainable Packaging Initiative for Cosmetics (SPICE) has been announced by the founding companies: L’Oréal and Quantis, a leading environmental sustainability consulting firm. The goal of SPICE members: to collectively shape the future of sustainable packaging in the cosmetic industry.

“L'Oréal's commitment to be a co-founder of SPICE was driven by the willingness to collectively share on sustainable development progress and to allow cosmetics industry players to work more effectively together,” says Philippe Thuvien, L’Oréal’s Global Head of Packaging & Development. 

“Beyond the development of a robust methodology of environmental footprint assessment, SPICE will ultimately increase the eco-design of our products and will provide the clarity consumers expect to help them make more sustainable cosmetic purchases.”

More specifically, the work delivered from SPICE will help the cosmetics industry make significant progress in three key areas:

• Guiding sustainable packaging policy development based on robust and harmonized methodology, recognized by the sector.
• Driving packaging innovation based on objective eco-design criteria to progress towards more sustainable solutions.
• Meeting consumers’ expectations by improving communication and providing more clarity on the environmental performance of products. 

Within the three key areas, topics such as the following will be explored: recycled materials, bio-based plastics, finishing and decorating processes, tertiary packaging and distribution, reusable/rechargeable/refillable packaging and take-back programs, recycling disruptors, and end-of-life streams by country. 

Many actors in the cosmetics industry are increasing their level of commitment to work towards a sustainable future for beauty. Quantis asserts that these leaders are taking measures to progress on their path to sustainability as responsible companies and to willingly respond to the increasing number of consumers, investors and other stakeholders who want to know more about the environmental performance of products on the market.

Quantis further explains that the companies face considerable methodological issues when it comes to measuring the environmental footprint of their products. The results from product environmental footprints help companies make eco-design choices and to credibly communicate with consumers. In this way, SPICE was created to address such issues and provide solutions to these challenges in a collective manner by many of the industry’s major actors.

SPICE is co-founded by L’Oréal and Quantis and now counts 11 current members including cosmetic companies Avon Products, Inc., Clarins Group, Coty Inc., L’Occitane en Provence, L’Oréal, LVMH, Shiseido, Sisley, as well as Cosmetic Valley (French “competitiveness cluster” for perfumes and cosmetics) and FEBEA (French Federation of Beauty Companies). SPICE remains open to additional members. Cosmetics products manufacturers as well as cosmetics packaging suppliers can join the initiative as corporate members.