Co-founded by the L’Oréal Group and environmental sustainability consulting firm Quantis, the Sustainable Packaging Initiative for CosmEtics (SPICE) has held its inaugural meeting last week in Paris, France.
The aim of this partnership, which now counts 11 members (including cosmetic companies Avon Products, Clarins Group, Coty, L’Occitane en Provence, L’Oréal, LVMH, Shiseido, Sisley, as well as Cosmetic Valley [1] and French Federation of Beauty Companies - FEBEA), is to address methodological issues when it comes to measuring the environmental footprint of the packaging of cosmetic products.
“Consumers, investors and other stakeholders want to know more about the environmental performance of products on the market. They expect transparency - facts and metrics - to understand if cosmetics brands are making commitments and to learn how they plan on achieving these targets to reduce impacts on the environment,” explains Quantis in a release.
Members of the SPICE will work together to develop and publish business-oriented methodologies and data, focusing on 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.
"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,” states L’Oréal’s Global Head of Packaging & Development Philippe Thuvien.
SPICE will explore the following topics: 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.
“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," adds Philippe Bonningue, Head of Sustainable Packaging at L’Oréal.
SPICE remains open to cosmetics products manufacturers as well as cosmetics packaging suppliers interested in joining the initiative.
