What to anticipate on the 2025 Sustainable Cosmetics Summit

The worldwide demand for sustainable cosmetics is rising, with the pure and natural magnificence market projected to succeed in $54.5 billion by 2027, rising at a CAGR of 9.76% from 2022 to 2027, in keeping with market analysis agency Statista. On the similar time, sustainability certifications are gaining traction—practically 50% of magnificence shoppers now search for third-party verified claims like natural, vegan, or climate-neutral earlier than making a purchase order, as reported by The NPD Group.

Towards this backdrop, the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit – North America Version returns to New York Metropolis on June 5-6, 2025, bringing collectively producers, suppliers, and trade leaders to discover inexperienced supplies, sustainability schemes, and rising developments like AI and biotechnology.

Organized by Ecovia Intelligence, the occasion will study how these improvements are shaping the way forward for cosmetics whereas tackling key challenges resembling ingredient sourcing, round packaging, and greenwashing.

To realize deeper insights, CosmeticsDesign spoke with Amarjit Sahota, founding father of Ecovia Intelligence, about what to anticipate from this 12 months’s summit and the way the trade can speed up its shift towards sustainability.

CDU: What impressed this 12 months’s theme and focus for the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit?

Amarjit Sahota (AS): This 12 months, we’re specializing in inexperienced supplies, sustainability schemes, and future developments. Inexperienced substances proceed to play an vital function in advancing sustainability within the cosmetics trade.

We’ll have a look at how new applied sciences like biotechnology and AI are creating sustainable substances.

We determined to cowl sustainability schemes since our analysis reveals a rising variety of third-party sustainability requirements and labels for beauty & private care merchandise. Other than pure and natural (probably the most established), we’re seeing extra merchandise with climate-neutral, vegan, and associated labels like EWG Verified and Made Secure.

Within the Future Developments session, we’ll talk about the developments which might be poised to additional sustainability within the cosmetics trade. Other than AI (which is anticipated to have a serious influence on beauty formulations and advertising and marketing), we’re overlaying cultured substances (made utilizing mobile agriculture), and new strategies to provide plant-based substances: regenerative agriculture and vertical farming.

We’re additionally overlaying new packaging supplies for cosmetics & private care merchandise.

CDU: How has the summit advanced over time in addressing sustainability challenges within the cosmetics trade?

AS: The agenda of the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit has advanced significantly for the reason that first version in 2009. Within the first few editions, inexperienced supplies referred to plant-based/pure uncooked supplies versus artificial chemical substances.

During the last 10 years, there was appreciable funding in inexperienced uncooked supplies. Now, inexperienced supplies check with substances which have the next sustainability profile than standard substances.

This may very well be by way of feedstock (agricultural-based or bio-based feedstock), synthesis (processing strategies), upcycling (valorization of waste supplies), and/or new applied sciences like stem cell know-how, precision fermentation, and so forth.

There are additionally higher discussions on impacts, whether or not it’s carbon footprint / internet zero, useful resource use, moral sourcing & biodiversity, social sustainability, in addition to packaging impacts. Advertising points are additionally extra distinguished, particularly since manufacturers are advertising and marketing their merchandise on varied inexperienced options, e.g., energetic substances, free-from claims, labels, packaging, refillable, and so forth.

CDU: The agenda mentions AI and biotechnology as rising applied sciences. How do you see these shaping the way forward for sustainable cosmetics?

AS: AI is having a serious affect on the cosmetics trade. Manufacturers are AI to assist them choose substances and re-formulate their merchandise.

AI can also be used for market analysis for NPD (creating new merchandise), advertising and marketing, and communications. Corporations like Haut.AI are creating software program like SkinGPT, while analysis businesses are utilizing AI to research information and information manufacturers with advertising and marketing selections.

Biotechnology is anticipated to play an vital function in creating pure uncooked supplies for beauty formulations. The transfer to inexperienced uncooked supplies has raised questions on land use: As the worldwide inhabitants continues to rise and is anticipated to succeed in 9 billion by 2037, there are issues that land shall be used to develop crops for cosmetics and never for meals.

The rising use of plant-based uncooked supplies mustn’t result in meals insecurity. Biotechnology, resembling plant cell know-how, permits energetic substances to be grown in refineries with agricultural land. Precision fermentation and fermentation strategies allow substances like collagen to be created from plant sources within the lab.

New applied sciences, due to this fact, will play an vital function in creating sustainable substances for the cosmetics trade.

CDU: How do you suppose this 12 months’s summit will affect trade stakeholders’ methods for integrating sustainability?

AS: We wish to spotlight the key developments and alternatives with inexperienced supplies and sustainability schemes for stakeholders. Inexperienced supplies play an vital function in decreasing the environmental influence of beauty & private care merchandise.

Sustainability schemes are vital as they assist manufacturers and ingredient corporations transfer in the direction of inexperienced(er) merchandise. They’re additionally crucial in advertising and marketing; by adopting third-party sustainability schemes like Natrue, RSPO, and Local weather Neautral, manufacturers can legitimize their inexperienced advertising and marketing claims.

CDU: What function does collaboration play in overcoming challenges like greenwashing and implementing round programs?

AS: Collaboration does play an vital function. Within the earlier editions of the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit, we’ve got highlighted the significance of collaboration by giving a platform to the EcoBeautyScore Consortium and Pact Collective.

Each initiatives have concerned manufacturers working collectively for a typical aim e.g. the purpose of the Pact Collective to deal with the problem of magnificence and wellness packaging waste by uniting manufacturers to take collective accountability for packaging waste by way of progressive assortment packages and academic assets.

CDU: What are your ideas on the potential for holistic sustainability schemes to deal with the rising fragmentation within the trade?

AS: Sadly, we’ve got not seen any schemes that cowl the assorted elements of sustainability within the magnificence trade. One of many causes is that sustainability has many threads, encompassing environmental facets like carbon footprint, water use, power, waste administration, biodiversity, packaging impacts, to social facets like moral sourcing and CSR.

There are additionally financial facets and moral facets that cowl animal-testing, veganism, and human well being. It’s, due to this fact, changing into frequent for sustainability schemes that concentrate on particular facets, e.g., RSPO for sustainable sourcing of palm oil, carbon footprint labels, natural certification, vegan labels, honest commerce, and so forth.

CDU: Wanting forward, what new sustainability developments do you anticipate will emerge within the subsequent few years?

AS: We see there to be extra sustainability requirements and labeling schemes, in addition to charters and roundtables. A pattern is that these schemes are being developed for single substances, e.g., sustainable palm oil, sugar, coconut oil, mica, guar, and so forth.

There can even be extra of a rising palette of inexperienced substances. Already, we’re seeing corporations which have silicones and polymers shifting to bio-based feedstock.

On the shopper degree, count on to see new product codecs. Lately, refillables have made a comeback for skincare merchandise. There are new product codecs like waterless shampoos and moisturizer bars, in addition to new refillable deodorants, and so forth.

CDU: Because the founding father of Ecovia Intelligence, what drives your ardour for sustainability in cosmetics, and the way do you see your function in shaping the trade’s future?

AS: Since Ecovia Intelligence was fashioned in 2001, the mission has been to encourage sustainable improvement within the meals, beauty & associated industries through our enterprise companies.

We have now been internet hosting the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit since 2009; for 17 years, the summit goals to encourage optimistic change within the magnificence trade by highlighting sustainability developments and figuring out enterprise alternatives and networks. Because the founding father of Ecovia Intelligence, my function is to assist facilitate this optimistic change.

For extra particulars or to register for the upcoming Summit, please go to the group’s web site.