Brands tackling carbon emissions: a look at industry initiatives and innovations

Part 1: Beauty

With scientists warning that 10 gigatonnes of net CO2 will need to be removed from the atmosphere to keep the global temperature rise under 1.5°C by 2050, the urgent quest to meet net zero (or, increasingly, carbon positive) goals is sparking a cross-industry wave of innovation. As such, eco-minded brands are not only looking to reduce emissions but also exploring carbon sequestration – a sector that’s set to be worth $15.5bn by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 12.3% (Research & Markets, 2021).

Below, we look at the beauty industry leaders tackling carbon emissions

US-based carbon-recycling technology company LanzaTech, which converts industrial carbon emissions (e.g. those produced in steel manufacturing) into ethanol, has been collaborating with several beauty brands. Together with cosmetics multinational Coty, it has created a sustainable fragrance out of the ethanol product; by 2023, Coty aims to be making most of its fragrance portfolio from ethanol sourced from carbon capture.

And in October 2020, together with personal care giant L’Oréal and energy company Total, LanzaTech launched the world’s first packaging made from captured and recycled carbon emissions. L’Oréal aims to use this for its shampoo and conditioner bottles by 2024. The three-step process converts the ethanol into ethylene before polymerising it into a sustainable polyethylene, boasting the same technical characteristics as its fossil counterpart.

UK sustainable beauty bastion Lush’s biodegradable natural Cork Pots, sold for storing its shampoo bars, are also carbon negative. Each pot removes more than 33 times its weight in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, thanks to the fast-growing nature of cork trees from which the packaging is made.

Image credit: LanzaTech x Cot, Lanza Tech and Lush

New certification body Climate Neutral Certified makes it easier for brands (including those in beauty and personal care) to legitimise and communicate their eco values to consumers. This is key, as 94% of UK consumers think brands should be more transparent about their sustainability credentials (The Pull Agency, 2021). Before the launch, there was no official consumer-facing label for carbon neutrality.

Having launched the world’s first carbon-negative vodka, New York start-up Air Company is also creating a hand sanitiser using the same method. Instead of the traditional yeast, its pure-grade ethanol is distilled from CO2 captured from nearby factories, combined with water, and powered by solar energy. The only emission is oxygen.

Swedish eco start-up Lifelong and UK-based Milly & Sissy both offer a range of powder-to-water personal care products – a formula that reduces shipping emissions by 94%.

Image credit: Climate Neutral Certified, Air Co, Lifelong, and Milly & Sissy

Neighbourhood Botanicals is a UK-based carbon-negative skin, hair and bodycare brand, which offsets more than double its emissions through a hydropower and social project in rural China. The Huoshui Small HydroPower Project involves multiple small-scale hydropower plants, which generate renewable energy for rural south-west and south-central China. By supplying clean hydroelectric power to the local grid, the project displaces greenhouse gas emissions, helping to mitigate climate change and improving the lives of local people.

Certified carbon-neutral company Tropic Skincare double offsets its emissions, removing twice the amount of greenhouse gases it emits (to date, the equivalent of more than 4,000 football pitches worth of forest growing for an entire year). The UK brand also funds sustainable projects to counteract the greenhouse gases emitted through business activities.

Ethique is a New Zealand-based plastic-free hair, skin and bodycare brand using 100% renewable energy – even its office is powered by 100% carbon-neutral certified power provider Ecotricity. One of Ethique’s shampoo bars has just 8% of the carbon footprint of the equivalent liquid product, and bulk shipping to the warehouse lowers emissions to just 3% of airfreight. The brand also aims to plant 400,000 trees by the end of 2021, which would offset over 26,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.