Beiersdorf is a member of the EcoBeautyScore Consortium

Together with 35 other industry players, Beiersdorf intends to make it easier for consumers to make sustainable purchase decisions when they shop for cosmetics and skin care products.

An increasing number of shoppers are basing their purchasing decisions on the environmental impact of a product. An initial remedy for this has been provided by a wide variety of sustainability seals and certifications. However, for many consumers it is not fully clear what the different seals mean in terms of the overarching sustainability performance of a product.

The newly founded EcoBeautyScore Consortium (EBSC), which Beiersdorf also is part of, aims to address this issue. Together with 35 other cosmetics and personal care companies and associations, the aim is to create a global, easy-to-understand standard that promotes the sustainable consumption of cosmetics and skin care products. In order to measure the environmental impact of products in a uniform manner and to communicate this information transparently to consumers, a scoring system will be developed. This scoring is intended to make it clear to consumers which products are sustainable and will include aspects such as packaging, the composition of the formula and environmental impacts during the use phase.

“The EcoBeautyScore Consortium is a unified step by all major international companies to create a uniform, global rating system for the sustainability assessment of cosmetics in order to provide consumers with scientifically sound criteria for improved, sustainable product choices,” says Dr. Gerhard Benner, Manager Corporate Regulatory Affairs at Beiersdorf.

Dorle Bahr, Head of Environmental Sustainability, adds: “The EBSC will make an important contribution to providing consumers with guidance on environmental compatibility in their purchasing decisions in the cosmetics sector – on a scientifically sound basis.”

The members aim to develop a first prototype for the scoring system by the end of 2022, initially providing sustainability scores for a limited selection of product categories.