Appeal to natural cosmetics companies

Sustainability expert Dr. Ulrike Eberle appealed to the International Natural & Organic Cosmetics Conference 2019 to think holistically about raw materials – and to act quickly.

“We only have one Earth. But with our way of living, a second one would be necessary.” Sustainability expert Dr. Ulrike Eberle didn’t only speak about the exploding deman for raw materials at the Natural & Organic Cosmetics Conference in Berlin. She also describes the big picture: the dramatic situation of our planet – and what we all have to do with it.

Dr. Ulrike Eberle is a natural scientist, raw materials expert and owner of corsus. Her company consults companies, the European Commission and national politics. She is experienced in talking constructively about unpleasant truths. Listening to her speech in Berlin, you want to put an exclamation mark behind many of her sentences.

The world in figures:

• 95 percent of population growth takes place in developing and emerging countries
• In the year 2100, one third of the population will live on the African continent.
• Only 4 percent of the world’s population have all civil liberties.
• 27 million people live in modern slavery.
• Worldwide, 246 million children are involved in child labour.
• One in nine people is malnourished and hungry (795 million)
• Two out of nine people are overweight or adipose (1.9 billion)
• By 2050, the Earth’s ecological capacity will have been exceeded by 180-220 percent.

Eberle says: “We have limited space. But the competition for the use of it is growing steadily.” As is the demand for natural raw materials, which more and more companies are relying on. The reason for this is that natural cosmetics are no longer a niche product. “The industry is booming”, says Eberle. As a result, procuring the required substances in the required quality is becoming increasingly difficult.

Consumers want transparency about product ingredients

More and more customers want to know what is in the products they buy, where the ingredients come from – and what happens at the end of their life cycle to what’s left of the products. People are increasingly demanding sustainability, and their voices are getting louder. “You have to take care of that in your companies”, Eberle appeals to her audience, which includes many natural cosmetics manufacturers, suppliers and journalists. With “that” she also means global climate change: “Temperatures and sea levels are rising, glaciers and polar ice caps are melting, the extinction of species is accelerating”. She stresses: “We can’t go on like this!”.

Everyone present knows that. Of course. She speaks to “the good guys” – to many pioneers of the natural cosmetics industry, who were keen to change things even three, four decades before Greta Thunberg’s first Friday for Future. Keen to make things better. And yet even those “good ones” are subject to constraints, have to work economically – and with the substances that can be found on the market. Many companies are already investing a lot of time and money in the search for fairly traded raw materials, in cultivation projects and innovative packaging solutions.

Companies must pull out all the stops

Eberle demands that companies pull out all the jobs to achieve climate-neutral production. “The environmental goals set the framework conditions. They are not negotiable”, she says. “The economic system is negotiable”.  Referring to the United Nations agenda with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals such as “no poverty”, “no hunger”, “climate protection”, which were adopted in 2015, she wants for companies and actors to take a deeper look, not only in the 17 main goals but also in the 169 subgoals. Her advice: “use the opportunity to position yourself”. Not every company can contribute to each of the targets – but to many. “The economy will have to make its contribution”. As she says this, it doesn’t sound like a ‘One should…’, but rather a ‘Go on!’.

Eberle’s forecast is: “CO2 will have a price. For everyone!”. Companies should hurry now, because: “today, you can still be the benchmark yourself – you can act instead of react”. In her speech, she urgently appeals to critically question oneself and one’s entrepreneurial actions, and to examine new approaches to alternative new materials undogmatically. The solutions to covering the raw material demand will have to be sought on several levels: cultivation with contracts, purchase guarantees, long-term contracts. All these measures could help companies to make progress.

Following the KISS principles

In order for small companies to hold their own against large companies, Eberle advises to form cooperatives and new purchasing platforms. The whole industry will need to develop solutions jointly, for example by standardised product labelling. In all this, companies should follow the KISS principle. “Keep it Simple and Stupid” – because only with simple messages you can reach the broad mass of consumers. And thus the best possible results.

Statements by Dr. Ulrike Eberle translated from German.

Read also:

Sustainable Cosmetics for A Circular Economy

The Sustainable Cosmetics Summit will be hosted in Paris on 4-6th November. For the first time, the executive summit will discuss practical approaches to change formulations, packaging, and consumption of cosmetics & personal care products to help prepare for a circular economy.

Bernhard Irrgang new president of Natrue

The International Natural and Organic Cosmetics Association Natrue has a new president. Dr. Bernhard Irrgang, Head of Research & Development Natural and Organic Cosmetics at Weleda was unanimously elected.

New exotic ingredients for natural cosmetics

The Rambutan tree is a relative of the lychee tree, carrying red, prickly-haired fruits with interesting active ingredients for cosmetics. These are now available organically certified and certified for natural cosmetics – by BASF.