EP221. How Europe plans to shut down greenwashing in beauty

Pretty soon, any company making eco friendly claims in the European Union might want to start looking over their shoulder if they haven't got the evidence to back up any of their sustainability claims. Because earlier this year in 2024, the European Parliament officially approved a new greenwashing directive requiring member states, that's the 27 countries currently in the European Union, to introduce stricter rules surrounding the use of environmental claims by companies. This means that beauty brands operating in any of those 27 countries will also fall under this requirement. So you can say goodbye to eco friendly claims around non recyclable packaging, or claims around environmental benefits that don't exist, or biodegradability claims for ingredients or packaging that can only be broken down in big industrial processing facilities. Or this is a big one, claims of carbon neutrality that are solely based on buying offsets. So you can see how this is going to shake up all the industries operating in the European Union. And what typically happens with regulations created in the EU is that they get replicated in other parts of the world. So I think we can probably expect to see similar directives and regulations rolled out elsewhere in the coming decades. So what does this mean for beauty? Is the cosmetics industry even ready? Is anyone even aware of what's coming? Well, to find out I decided to interview one of my long term industry friends, Priscilla Rolvers. So settle in for a fascinating episode in which we find out how Europe plans to ban greenwashing in beauty. Welcome to Green Beauty Conversations in which I challenge the beauty industry to become more sustainable, champion, independent and green beauty and encourage you to join me in changing the beauty industry for the better. I'm your host, Lorraine Dallmeier. I'm a chartered environmentalist, biologist and the CEO of award winning online organic cosmetic formulation school Formula Botanica. We have tens of thousands of students in over 190 countries around the world who study with us to become organic beauty formulators and entrepreneurs. Visit our website@formulabotanica.com to try our free online formulation course. And if you want to be the first person to know what's happening in green beauty, make sure you subscribe to this podcast in your favorite podcast app. So in today's episode I am joined by Priscilla Rolfers, a cosmetic scientist, Formula Botanica graduate and the founder of Green Cosmetics Revolution, a sustainability consultancy on a mission to transform the cosmetics industry into a future proof sustainable sector. Green Cosmetics Revolution serves as a freelance Sustainability Coordinator for small and medium beauty businesses. So Priscilla helps cosmetic professionals set and implement sustainability goals, empowering them to become green Cosmetics revolutionists themselves. With Priscilla's expertise in cosmetic science, the consultancy specializes in reformulating products or formulating products to enhance sustainability without compromising quality or efficacy. Hi, Priscilla, how are you doing today?

I'm doing very well, thank you. How are you?

I am good and I'm really interested in the conversation we're about to have. But before we dive into it, tell me a little bit about you. Tell our listeners about you. What do you do? What brought you to sustainability and Cosmos Cosmetics?

You did, probably. I became interested in the natural approach of skin problems when I'm doing herbal studies back in a decade ago, I think. And what we learned about the topical application was a bit icky and not something you want to use every day. And then I became a student almost a decade ago, I think, at Formula Botanica. Then I became a product developer. And I've been doing contract manufacturing for the last six years for indie brands, focusing on natural skincare first, and then it merged into Skincare Hair Care. We did doubled a bit in colors, but color cosmetics isn't our thing. Sustainability became something really important, not only in the industry, but for me personally. It became an interest and then it became an obsession, and now it is. It's a study and a new business.

Amazing. Tell me a little bit about your business before we get started.

I just started Green Cosmetics Revolution. I. I don't have a team anymore. I'm on a mission to make the cosmetics industry a sustainable industry. But I'm keeping it small with my clients so I can help formulate or reformulate their products into sustainable products or more sustainable products. But I also want to venture everything that's interesting, that's combining sustainability and the cosmetics industry as a whole. See where it goes. And I'm writing a book.

Very exciting. And I love what you're doing and I love the sound of Green Cosmetics Revolution. That is obviously why you're on the podcast today. So you're in the Netherlands, obviously, the European Union. What's going on in Europe? Because there have been some big changes here recently and there's some big changes in relation to greenwashing. So what's been happening?

Can I take you back for a bit of a history lesson and go back to where it all started? Everything started with the Sustainable Development Goals from the United nations in 2015 in Paris, the UN presented the Sustainable Development Goals and all member states said, yes, let's do this. We're going for Agenda 2030. We want to have a world that is better, that is greener, that is fairer. I think that's the starting point of the greenwashing ban and everything around greenwashing. Europe said we want to do everything and we want to be the global leader in the SDGs and we want to be the first climate neutral continent. I'm not very competitive, but this is a race that I really wanted to win. This is really cool or I think it's really exciting. But to win the race, we need to do a lot of things. As the European Union, we need to hit 169 targets towards the sustainability, development, Sustainable development Goals. And the European Commission or the European Union defined five different priorities. People, planets, prosperity, peace and partnership. These were the pillars that they build the key transitions on. And one of the key transitions is the Green Deal. And the Green Deal is something that the cosmetic world is buzzing about. I hear it more often coming back and forth. But the mission of the Green Deal is to become that first climate neutral continent. That was the word. We need to be net zero. The main thing that the tagline, I love the tagline of the Green Deal. The tagline is an economy that works for people. We're not about money per se or profit anymore. We're doing profit and people and planet. We're going towards impact business, impact company, impact countries and impact Continent. From the United nations segs to the European Green Deal that the Greenwashing Directive was born in. In 2020, the European Commission performed a study and they found out that more than half of the green claims that were made by products were fake or misleading or unfounded. More than half and 40 were out of the blue 40%. So it was a lot. And they got startled and a ball was rolling and things happened. People talked, lobbied, everything started to move around this. Two years later they did a proposal and one commissioner said something that I wrote the quote down because I think that's the core of this directive and the core of what the aim is of the Green Deal and the greenwashing ban. It's DJ Reinders, he's the Commissioner for Justice and he said if we do not start consuming more sustainably, we will not achieve our European Green Deal goals. It's as simple as that. While most consumers are willing to contribute, we are also seeing an increase in greenwashing and early adolescence practices to become the real actors of green transition. Consumers must have a right to information to make sustainable choices. They must also be protected against unfair commercial practices which abuse their interest in buying green. And lots of lobbying and talking later. Two years later, the Greenwashing ban is Effect. It's really exciting. We don't know a lot more than that.

Well, let's talk a little bit about that. So the EU has created a directive around the ban on greenwashing, which is very forward thinking, very hard hitting. What does it exactly mean?

It's not a national law. If our Dutch National Chamber gives out a law, we need to follow it directly. But the eu, it doesn't work like that. The directive is, it is a law. It's a type of law that passed by the European Union and it sets a goal for all member states to achieve those things that, that are in the directive. They have two years before the national. The countries can make the national laws and find out who is responsible for checking on the brands, checking on the marketing, if they're going to be fined and how much. We don't know how it's going to work in the upcoming years, but they have to be. The countries are bound to have the same results and the directive needs to be installed within two years. But we're not there yet.

Yeah, we're not there yet. But who knows what's going to happen in those next two years? Because obviously there are 27 member states in the European Union, used to be 28 until the UK undertook its national act of monumental self sabotage and left, and now there are 27 left. And they obviously have to start implementing this in their own regulations. So it'd be fascinating to see. Have any European countries already started to do anything or have we not seen anything yet?

I hope so.

Yeah.

Maybe I'm too cynical if I say I doubt it. I really hope so. It's been a couple of months. They need to have something in order and they must have started some creation. But I haven't heard anything from any country.

Well, no doubt some announcements will starting to be made in the next year or so. So how has the beauty industry received this big announcement? Because obviously there are many big beauty companies. I mean, look at fr. It's the sort of epicenter of the cosmetics industry. How have they received this big change on the horizon around greenwashing?

I was celebrating and popping kids champagne. I was really happy that the greenwashing ban was a fact and then nothing. I don't hear a lot of things from the industry yet at Ink Cosmetics. I haven't heard much about it in the Netherlands. I haven't heard anything about it. The Dutch Cosmetic Society has nothing on their website on it yet. And I'm in the board of a smaller Dutch society of cosmetic chemists. It isn't on the table yet. And what I think, what I see mostly in the Netherlands, they are all waiting for the rules to follow and we don't have those rules yet. And I don't think it's that big a deal as the green deal. The green deal has so much more you have to reformulate and more allergens are on the label and things are really, really changing. And greenwashing ban simply says don't lie. So if you make a fuss, you're probably lying.

Yeah. So I like that. Don't lie. Well, in that case, let's talk about that. What claims will the beauty industry not be able to make anymore? Because obviously I don't think this is something that we really talk about all that much as an industry, but it must have some profound implications for a lot of brands. So what claims can't we make?

We already had claims we couldn't make. We cannot make the medical claims. If things are itching. Don't say it. When you're making cosmetics or don't heal acne or eczema, the industry is used to. Or the European industry is used to getting around claims. And I think the most profound change is that greenwashing was never okay. And there are lawsuits all over the world from greenwashing that's been fined, but that's always after the fact. You have to catch them red handed and then you can make a lawsuit and see what happens. And that's mostly in the us haven't found lots of big things in Europe. Mostly an NGO or another group says this claim isn't founded and say you're lying and then you have laws that you cannot lie. But this greenwashing directive is. I think it's comparable to the sensitive skin claim for people that don't know if you make products for sensitive. For sensitive skin or suitable for sensitive skin, you cannot put it on the label unless you prove that you've done a patch test or a dermatology test. It's a quite simple test to perform. But after the test, if you are reacted positive but actually negative, if the test panel didn't react on your product or most of them, then you can say your product is suitable for sensitive skin. That's the case with green environmental claims. Now, um, it's about environmentally friendly or green or bio, but also about the more sustainable packaging. L' Oreal has had a green washing thing. They said their packaging was 100% recycled plastic, but the cap wasn't. That's greenwashing. Yeah. And there was a slap on the wrist. But what we see in Europe that everybody can claim natural. And I think that was my first greenwashing tantrum maybe. I think when I just started as a student at Formula Botanica, I was claiming a lot or talking a lot about natural cosmetics and how great natural cosmetics are. And my mom proudly presented a natural shampoo that she bought. And I was just let me check that label because I don't think it's green or natural. There was Argan nuts on there and botanical scenery and it spotted natural. And for the typical consumer it was a natural shampoo. But when you check the inkey, it was a synthetic mix with SLS in there, synthetic colorants and fragrance and, and a drop of Argan oil. So natural that cannot be claimed anymore unless you can prove it or biodegrade it.

And I suppose with, with the greenwashing claims in particular, you can no longer make claims around your products being eco friendly or your packaging being recyclable if it isn't. Even if it can be recycled. I suppose there are elements around the recycling infrastructure if it can handle it. So if a beauty brand wants to make eco friendly claims, how is it going to be able to prove some of the claims it does want to make? What counts as proof and who's going to check?

Yeah, we cannot say it exactly because the rules aren't set in stone yet. They are talking about a certification, but which certification I'm not sure yet. The eco label is mentioned. So probably when you have the EU eco label you can claim that your, that your product is eco or green or natural. My favorite scheme is Natru. Natru applauded the ban but is really critical. So everything that all the buzzing in Brussels they are on it also because they don't want to be left behind. But if there is a guideline with new banned ingredients or something, sometimes it's not in line with natural cosmetics and they're here to protect natural cosmetics. So hopefully not true Certification could be up for to prove that your product is natural or ecologic or those claims. I think that's most interesting in the, in all the claims is the cherry picking that has been done by a lot of brands. The shampoo that I just mentioned, maybe it has 1% argan oil in it, but it's everything about the 100% argan oil. With the new laws, I think it's 100% sure. Yeah, with the new law you have to see the whole product and the whole. Maybe you have to do a lifecycle analysis and see what the Impact is of the product. And if you say that the product is more sustainable, you have to mention more sustainable than what? If it's more sustainable than your previous formulation or your previous packaging, name it. Overall, exact claims, I'm not sure. But those kinds of claims and will be the target of the new regulation if they're set in stone.

Yeah, no, I understand. What's interesting is the example you gave was around natural ingredients. But something being natural or not, of course doesn't necessarily have all that much to do with sustainability. So do you think that that sort of claim will come under the greenwashing directive as well?

Yeah, they mention biodegradable, natural, eco and environmentally friendly as one sentence of claims to make. It's part of the environmental claims list.

Gosh, that's fascinating because that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with sustainability. Unless we're talking about the biodegradability angle. But then certain synthetics can be biodegradable too. It will be interesting to see how they roll that one out. Do you think this directive is aimed at the bigger companies or the smaller ones? Or like who's. Who's going to get caught up in the net here?

It will start with the biggest companies. The biggest companies will be forced to follow the rules, maybe even from 2025, 2026. The small and medium enterprises will get some leeway. Leeway. They have more time to get everything in order. And the micro enterprises will be probably not included at all. So there won't be any check for the companies below. I think 5,000 employees and I'm not sure what amount this year will be the threshold from micro to small or medium enterprise.

It'll be interesting to see how they enforce this country by country as well. I presume the various national trading standards bodies will get involved as well. And there'll be an element of people reporting companies to trading standardized bodies. Who knows, we shall see what happens in each country.

And what really is interesting is that the right wing countries can make other decisions. For example, if you have a lot that you cannot park in the middle of the roads, but nobody is checking it. The law isn't worth anything. So we'll see.

Let's see. I'm sure, I mean this is the case with all EU directives. They're always implemented slightly differently across all of the EU member states, where some countries go in completely 100% compliance and others are slightly more relaxed about it. But ultimately it's part of a bigger plan. As you said, it's part of this green deal. And we're all heading in the same direction, which is a good thing.

Can get a country in line as well if they don't follow up. Good enough.

Yeah, fair enough. One thing I wanted to ask you about is that some companies are now undertaking so called green hushing where they're not talking about their sustainability credentials because they're scared of getting it wrong or scared of attracting the wrong kind of attention. What do you think about that?

I've heard about it and I didn't understand why people would green hush except when it doesn't fit your brand entirely. If you say too much, you confuse your customer and if everything is sustainable, just name sustainable and just go with it. But greenhoshing will be something that will be bigger.

Yeah, I fully expect it as well. I expect to see a lot more companies start to keep quiet because they're so scared of getting it wrong because it is. Sustainability is such a complex topic.

We already have seen it with the indie brands that don't have the certification, the table. But we are vegan, but we cannot pay for a vegan certificate or we are really organic because I think organic is the best thing that you can do. But the certification is so pricey we cannot go there. I'm really happy that the micro organizations are excluded in this ban because then you can have those great indie brands that I really, really dearly love. They can do the real good things without being held back by green hushing.

Yeah, that makes sense. Does that mean the micro companies are specifically excluded in the directive? Does it actually specifically mention them?

They are mentioned, but things can change. I don't think they will be included. They will ever be included.

Well, one to keep an eye on, I'm sure.

Yeah.

So do you think that this type of directive and the consequent country specific regulations that will come out of it and presumably this will then filter through to other countries around the world as the EU often sets the gold standard in regulations which are then replicated elsewhere. Do you think that these regulations are a good thing for the beauty industry and the beauty shopper?

I think everything around the sustainability sustainable development is good for the world, so good for the industry and good for the consumer. If this is the real good thing for the beauty industry in itself. I have a really small brand. If I needed to go towards certification and bend over backwards, I probably would think of. Never mind, let it be. So I don't think it's good for the beauty brand per se. In the aims they. They say that they want to level the playgrounds and the directive is aimed to do that. But I'm not sure how they do that because as a real small brand, I can say things are green and I can see say it's vegan and natural and everything. Just like the beauty giants in the world can do that. I really do think the consumer benefits by it, especially consumers like my mom that really want to buy something green. But also my best friend is really shopping consciously and wants to have good stuff. She doesn't want to harm water life or something and happens over and over again that she has something in her bathroom that is harmful. It will be easier for the consumer.

Yeah. And that I suppose is ultimately the objective here. So hopefully within several years we will see all of these greenwashing claims being phased out not just in the beauty industry, but across all industries.

Yeah, the beauty industry is a small one for the greenwashing that has been done and we have a new law as well. I'm not sure the English term, but the Dutch call it something about you cannot look away anymore. It's especially really interesting for the fashion comp. For the fashion industry. They have to do the due diligence. They are forced to do it now. And greenwashing ban does that a bit. But if you're forced not to look away, if you're forced to do the reports and go where you source your ingredients or source your materials when you have fashion, if we really need to make sure that the people on the palm plantation are being paid enough or they're over a legal age, you have to really be there or hire someone to check it. I think that's a really good one for the world.

Yes, indeed. Well, let's see where we go with it. I'll be interested to see how this rolls out in the coming years. Priscilla, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast. Where can people find out more about you or work with you if they want to get your expertise on sustainable formulation?

I have a website, a fresh website, www.greencosmetics revolution. Com. I'm on X a bit as Greencos Revo and I'm on LinkedIn and you can find me and Priscilla Grovers and I live on the Internet or you can come to the beautiful Amirausvolds and find me here.

Excellent. We'll include all of those links with the show notes. Thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today. It was lovely chatting to you.

Thank you. It was really, really fun to finally be in a podcast.

Well, I'm glad we could help with that too. I would love to hear your thoughts on this episode. Do you think that the new EU directive will have much of an effect on the beauty industry? Or which greenwashing claims do you find most frustrating to see in cosmetics? Leave us a comment on our social channels as both the Formula Botanica team and I love hearing from you. And if you want to hear more about some of the topics we covered, please do delve back into the podcast archives. So some Great examples include two ones I've done recently. Episode 219 in which I interviewed Maggie Spicer of Source Beauty ESG, where we looked at the rise in class action lawsuits against brands for their sustainability claims. And then episode 220 in which I took a close look at the greenwashing lawsuit that's currently ongoing against Colgate Palmolive for their Toms of Maine toothpaste in the us and then all the way back in time to episode number eight in which we examined how 100% natural claims could get you into legal trouble too. There is a wealth of information in our old episodes and I do encourage you to go back and listen to them. Thank you for joining Priscilla and I for this latest episode of Green Beauty Conversations. I really hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please do leave us a five star review so that other people can enjoy these conversations too. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or whatever your favorite podcast app is, and stay tuned for the next episode. Follow Formula Botanica at Formula Botanica on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest. We're everywhere and come and give me a Follow Lorraine Dalmer on Instagram and on LinkedIn. Visit our website@formulabotanica.com and sign up for our free online formulation course today.