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The climate culprits lurking in your cosmetics bag

Beauty routines used to consist of cleanser, toner and moisturiser. Today, serums, exfoliators, oils and eye creams are adding to a mountain of plastic packaging

Poor regulation has allowed brands to use green jargon to promote their products without consequence. Photograph: Agency Stock
Poor regulation has allowed brands to use green jargon to promote their products without consequence. Photograph: Agency Stock
Elaine Maguire O'Connor
Tue Nov 05 2024 - 06:00

There’s a stark disconnect between the beauty industry’s environmental promises and the realities of how it operates. Ninety five per cent of beauty packaging is thrown away, according to a recent report by the British Beauty Council. As a result, approximately 120 billion units of packaging from paper, glass and metals end up in landfill where they emit methane and carbon dioxide, polluting the air and contributing to climate change.

Much of what brands tout as “recyclable” packaging is in fact extremely difficult to recycle. A single beauty product often consists of multiple materials, each of which has different recycling requirements. To be recycled, they must be dismantled and separated into discrete groupings. Products with a pump – usually made of a variety of plastics as well as a metal spring – are a good example. Lipstick tubes are another. The complicated process of collecting, cleaning and separating materials is expensive and is the reason why many recycling programs have failed.

It seems that a lot of what we throw into our recycling bin ends up being incinerated – releasing toxic chemicals, heavy metals and other pollutants into the air – or else languishing in oceans and landfill.

Conversely, this comes at a time when more of us than ever are interested in making ethical and sustainable choices when we shop. Approximately one third of beauty products are now labelled as ‘clean’, and the majority of consumers state that they are willing to pay more for products that come in sustainable packaging.

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For the most part, the industry has responded not with solutions, but with perfunctory initiatives that amount to little more than greenwashing. A 2022 investigation conducted by the Changing Markets Foundation called out big cosmetics brands for contributing to the problem. To take just one example, L’Oréal, the world’s largest cosmetics company, was criticised for advertising its Elvive shampoo bottle as “more sustainable” without any reference to what, exactly, it was more sustainable than. L’Occitane, which markets itself via its “Four Pillars of Sustainability”, was called out for replacing its bottles with unrecyclable flexible packaging pouches that cover only a small number of refills before requiring replacement themselves.

Poor regulation has allowed brands to use green jargon to promote their products without consequence. And while espousing these messages of sustainability, the cosmetics industry is constantly seeking out new ways to sell us more and increase manufacturers’ bottom line. Walk through any retail pharmacy and you’ll notice entire aisles devoted to single-use products like face masks, as well as travel-size versions of shampoo, conditioner and sunscreen. Facewipes, already notorious for adding to microplastic pollution in the ocean and contributing to fatbergs – rock-like masses of waste matter found in sewer systems – are now available in packets of individually wrapped singles, each wipe encased in its own jacket of non-recyclable plastic.

Capitalising on imagined flaws and imperfections has long been the beauty industry’s modus operandi, convincing us that we need countless lotions and potions to tackle them. Even 20 years ago, beauty routines consisted of cleanser, toner and moisturiser. Today, serums, exfoliators, oils and eye creams have all been added to the equation, with many cosmetics brands recommending both “day” and “night” versions of each product.

A look in my own bathroom cabinet reveals multiple tubes and bottles, most of which failed to deliver on their hyperbolic promises of a fresher, smoother looking me. Eventually, I know, they will be discarded to the waste bin, along with my dreams of flawless skin.

Incoming EU regulation will go some way in holding cosmetics brands accountable. The Green Claims Directive – due for implementation in Ireland in 2026 – will make product labelling more trustworthy by banning the use of general environmental claims like “environmentally friendly” and “biodegradable”, without strong evidence to back them up. Other EU rules will require countries to reduce the amount of plastic packaging waste they produce and to ensure all packaging is recyclable by fulfilling strict criteria.

Common sense dictates that we must take some personal responsibility for our shopping choices, but the reality is more complicated. Cosmetics companies spend millions of dollars convincing us that by shopping with them we’re helping, and not harming, the planet, and most of us struggle to differentiate between brands that are truly engaged in sustainable initiatives and those which are merely greenwashing.

What we can do is to buy less and be mindful of beauty brands’ motivations for selling us more – our wallets and our planet will thank us.

Elaine Maguire O’Connor is a writer and consultant working in fashion law