Organic Monitor Press Release

Marketing and customer behaviour will be featured in the context of green cosmetics and environmental impacts. Although the natural & organic cosmetics market has shown high growth, the market share remains low. Natural & organic products comprise just 3% of European cosmetic sales because of concentration of demand; a small consumer base is responsible for most purchases. The latest market and consumer data will be presented, followed by discussions on how to broaden consumer appeal for natural and organic cosmetics. Life-cycle analysis studies show the highest environmental impact of certain personal care products is at the consumer level; the summit will also ask what can be done to encourage responsible consumption?

Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart, co-founder of McDonough Braungart Design and professor at the University of Applied Science (Suderburg, Germany), will give the opening keynote . As cosmetic firms announce bold sustainability plans, Braungart will state the limitations of setting targets to reduce environmental impacts. According to Braungart, cosmetic & personal care firms need to innovate with product design if they are to use resources more efficiently. He encourages companies to consider the Cradle-To-Cradle Design Approach to create ‘closed loop systems’ for cosmetic ingredients and finished …