Today (29 October) saw the launch of the British Beauty Council’s The Courage to Change report exploring the state of sustainability in the beauty sector and laying out a vision of how the industry can move forward together.
Calling on industry to collaborate through a Sustainable Beauty Coalition, the report also urges individual brands to do more to improve the impact of their products and support consumers to make better choices, as well as encouraging consumers to choose positively impactful products and engage with brands on the issues they care about.
The report was launched at a webinar hosted by British Beauty Council innovation pillar president Anna Teal and featuring a panel including Jayn Sterland (Weleda), Dr Mark Smith (NATRUE), Phil Cumming (Walgreens Boots Alliance), Ray Hopkinson (Hubbub) and Adam Garfunkel (Junxion).
Explaining the reason behind the report, Teal said: “We commissioned The Courage to Change with a focus on the environment to set us on a greater path towards the creation of an even more sustainable future for the UK beauty industry. Importantly, we lay out in this report a future vision to how we can be even better as an industry.”
I think if we as an industry can start getting rid of our self-interest and becoming a much more of a collaborative force for good, we can put these things into play
“I think this report is amazing because what it’s actually giving us is some clear answers,” said Sterland. “There’s a wonderful quote from Greta Thunberg in the report where she says that we have all the answers, we’ve just got to change. And I think if we as an industry can start getting rid of our self-interest and becoming a much more of a collaborative force for good, we can put these things into play.”
Digging into the consumer research commissioned for the report, Hopkinson highlighted a huge appetite among UK consumers for adopting sustainable beauty regimes, with particular interest among 25 to 34-year-olds.
Of those surveyed, one in seven bought a product for environmental reasons between April and July 2020, 59% of people said they’d be willing to refill their products and 60% of people look for certification.
One in seven of consumers in the survey said they’ve boycotted a brand (rising to one in four amongst 25 to 34-year-olds) and 91% want to see less packaging, while 90% want to see clearer information on how to recycle products when finished.
When it comes to price, 30% claimed they’re willing to pay more for products in recyclable packaging, refillable products, brands that are protecting biodiversity, fair trade products, certified organic products and products using sustainable palm oil (rising to 40% for 25 to 34-year-olds).
The Courage to Change report can be downloaded here
