For several years now, the cosmetics sector has been undergoing a profound transformation: setting up sustainable supply chains, measuring their footprint on biodiversity, reducing their environmental impact... to help the whole sector go faster and further, Febea has published a guide to best practices in the sector. It will enable all cosmetics companies, whatever their size, to draw inspiration from these experiences and deploy them on their own scale.
The Last June, Febea adopted a new raison d'être: "Taking care of you, respecting the beauty of the world". As soon as it was adopted, this raison d'être was designed to be translated into a series of concrete actions, particularly in terms of ecological transition.
Many companies in the sector have already embarked on this path, promoting biodiversity. Listing and publishing their best practices provides everyone with concrete, transferable examples capable of inspiring new actions and thus accelerating the ecological transition of the entire sector.
The "Biodiversity" guide available online from the Febea is above all practical and concrete. Divided into 7 chapters, it covers every aspect of how to help preserve biodiversity. From the creation of sustainable supply chains to the eco-design of raw materials and formulas, from logistics choices to the reuse of unsold products, each stage is the subject of a precise analysis, and above all gives pride of place to the concrete initiatives taken by companies.
Inspiring examples to inspire action
For example, Pierre Fabre has embarked on a process of valorizing co-products: to manufacture Klorane's active ingredient, it uses organic olive pomace, an effluent from olive oil production. To do this, it turned to a Greek farmer, for whom it financed the replanting of 10,000 olive trees after the 2007 fires in the Peloponnese. Another example is milk thistle oil, used in the Avène range. This is a co-product of sylimarin extraction, used in the pharmaceutical industry. The residual oil is currently being evaluated as a new cosmetic active ingredient.
Another example of strong commitment is the Yves Rocher Foundation's Plant For Life program. It mobilizes thousands of volunteer tree planters to revive the soil and retreat the deserts. Thanks to them and the expertise of 48 NGOs, the program is present in 35 countries, and the target of 100 million trees planted was reached by the end of 2020. In France, the Foundation has planted over 4 million trees, and will reach 5 million by 2021.
A comprehensive, practical guide for companies of all sizes
In all, this guide brings together 176 best practices from companies of all sizes and in all sectors.
It also features a series of focuses on environmental regulations and their evolution, and reviews existing certifications and standards. It also presents numerous examples of existing initiatives in which each company can choose to participate, not forgetting a "toolbox" and a diary of major upcoming events on the theme of biodiversity.
" With this guide, we want to show how, in concrete terms, each player in our industry can, at his or her own level, improve the quality of our products and services. contribute to "respecting the beauty of the worldsays Emmanuel Guichard, general delegate of the Febea. We now want to go further, faster, by relying on the strength of our collective. Together, we intend to play a major role in building a sustainable future that takes care of biodiversity. This initiative represents a first step in that direction, and it's up to us to continue amplifying the movement".
