The Zero-Waste Beauty Champions: Meet The Pioneering Brands

Covalo X The Upcycled Beauty Company

Last year, we wrote about the Upcycled Beauty Brand Champions at the forefront of the upcycled beauty movement. But circularity goes beyond the use of upcycled ingredients alone. Addressing waste throughout the supply chain is essential, especially since the global beauty and personal care industry produces over 120 billion units of packaging annually, most of which are not recyclable and end up in landfills.

So, which companies are going above and beyond in their circular journey to help reduce and reuse waste through their processes, ingredients, and packaging? Read on to discover the Zero-Waste Beauty Champions:

OWAY (ITALY)

Professional agricosmetic treatments for hair, face & body

OWAY is described as the world's first professional agricosmetic brand. With a rich history dating back to 1948, OWAY is present in over 70 countries, with products available in hair salons, online, and in select boutiques.

The brand’s hair, face, and body care formulas are made from actives sourced from biodynamic and organic agriculture and feature upcycled ingredients like pear peels, seeds, and chestnut husks. The brand also follows a "zero-km" principle in its product development. This means that OWAY sources all raw materials within a 100km radius of its production facility in Italy. By minimizing the distance between raw material sourcing and manufacturing, OWAY aims to reduce the environmental impact and carbon footprint associated with transporting ingredients.

With an emphasis on local craftsmanship, micro-production associations, and collaborating with local artisans, workers, and farmers, OWAY has also established two cutting-edge workshops adjacent to its main production plant. The brand's mission is to create a more sustainable presence through innovation and design:

ORTOFFICINA: A farm estate where plants are grown using biodynamic methods.
ARTIGIANO: A wood laboratory where packaging, furniture, and objects are designed and manufactured following circular design principles.

At the heart of OWAY's philosophy lies a deep respect for the environment and a commitment to reducing waste. The brand's formulations, packaging, and materials are carefully designed to minimize environmental impact. Each product is crafted to be long-lasting, reusable, compostable, or transformable into a new resource.

Since 2013, OWAY has significantly reduced plastic usage in its salons by 99%. Instead, the brand uses widely recycled glass bottles and jars, aluminium tubes, and natural materials such as wood, organic regenerated cotton, recycled paper, and more. Unnecessary secondary packaging and wrapping materials are also avoided.

By embracing biodynamic, zero-km, organic, and upcycled ingredients combined with plastic-free packaging, OWAY sets a new standard for professional cosmetics, while still offering exceptional performance.

Explore the OWAY Philosophy: www.oway.com

DISRUPTOR LONDON (UK)

Disrupting beauty for people & planet

Disruptor London is a genderless skincare and haircare brand that supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG#12) of Responsible Consumption and Production. The founders, Sira and Juan, believe that responsible consumption starts with using less. To support their skinimalist mission, the brand offers concentrated, multi-functional products with a planet-positive ethos.

Disruptor London is built upon five key pillars:

Responsible Consumption
Waterless Formulas
Ingredient Transparency
Responsible Manufacturing
Plastic-Free Packaging

The brand focuses on high-performance waterless formulas. This approach addresses two critical environmental issues: water scarcity and the reduction of plastic packaging. By eliminating water from its products, Disruptor London significantly reduces the need for plastic containers while also conserving a precious resource.

The brand takes great pride in its ingredient selection, prioritizing certified vegan, cruelty-free, natural, organic, and upcycled ingredients where possible. All products are formulated and manufactured in their London studio, following a Just-In-Time (JIT) model. They don't overproduce and optimize stock holding on demand. They produce in small batches, are reactive to customers, and aim to reduce complexity throughout the supply chain.

Disruptor London offers a range of multi-purpose bars, reducing the need for multiple products and plastic packaging. The product cartons, padded envelopes, and e-commerce mailers are all made of certified FSC paper from responsible sources and are 100% compostable. Their reusable bar storage cases are made of plant-based materials and all printing inks are vegan.

By reimagining personal care for a zero-waste future, Disruptor London is not only creating effective skincare and haircare products but also challenging consumers to rethink and reduce their consumption habits.

Become a disruptor: www.disruptor.london

ENOUGH. (SOUTH AFRICA)

Upcycled-beauty Health - Pioneering change to create environmental impact

South Africa’s first zero-waste beauty brand is here to revolutionize the industry with its commitment to sustainability and upcycling. The company repurposes waste materials to create innovative beauty products, promoting a circular economy and reducing landfill waste.

ENOUGH.'s approach to sustainability goes beyond the skincare formula and extends to how the products are packaged as well. Their upcycled blueberry and caffeine-enhanced formulas are packaged in readily recyclable aluminium or glass containers. They also offer two types of zero-waste secondary packaging options:

Upcycled Board Packaging: Made from used and waste cardboard boxes, which are laser cut into the desired shape. This creates a simple, origami-style protective pack that looks like a piece of art and is fully recyclable.
Hempcelium® Packaging: Developed exclusively for ENOUGH. by M2Enviro, a South African company creating next-generation biomaterials. This innovative material combines mycelium (the root network of fungi) with hemp hurd, an agricultural waste from hemp production. The result is an outer packaging that is light yet strong and best of all – it’s fully compostable at home!

ENOUGH.'s founder, Ginette Blackbeard, is deeply involved in every aspect of the business, emphasizing creativity and collaboration with like-minded companies. While ENOUGH. is creating a new segment in the South African market, they believe that local consumers are as progressive and sustainability minded as their global counterparts. The brand is actively working to educate consumers about upcycled ingredients and is setting a new standard for sustainable beauty in South Africa and beyond.

Discover more than enough: www.its-enough.com

What about the big brands?

And what steps towards zero-waste are we seeing from the larger global brands and multinationals? Several companies have made zero-waste or circular economy pledges in recent years:

REN Clean Skincare (owned by Unilever) made a zero-waste pledge in 2018 and completed it in 2021. They made their products 100% recyclable, launched new products using materials destined for landfill or found in oceans, and introduced initiatives like their Infinity Recycling program.
Caudalie has made a zero-waste pledge following REN's example.
In 2022, Chanel launched its No. 1 de Chanel line, which eliminates plastic components in jars and bottles, opting for glass instead. They also introduced their first refillable beauty product as part of this line.
L'Oréal has been working on refillable solutions, with brands like MUGLER offering in-store refill stations for fragrances.
Garnier (owned by L'Oréal) has launched plastic-free shampoo bars as alternatives to bottled formulas.

While many brands, both large and small, are making efforts towards sustainability, it's important to consider that achieving true zero-waste or a fully circular economy is challenging. Many companies are starting by focusing on specific aspects like recyclable packaging, refillable products, or reducing plastic use. The beauty and personal care industry is in a unique position to move towards more sustainable practices, but there's still significant progress to be made in embracing circular economy principles across all aspects of production and consumption.

Are you a brand looking to level up your commitment to sustainability? Start by selecting the right sustainable ingredients on Covalo. Leverage our Sustainability Claims filter to find the best-suited ingredients for your formulations.

References:

1. https://www.carbonethics.co/post/war-against-plastic-waste

2. https://www.mmi-analytics.com/blog/how-are-beauty-brands-embracing-a-circular-economy

3. https://www.hausvoneden.com/sustainability/zero-waste-cosmetics-circular-beauty/

4. https://beautymatter.com/articles/the-realities-of-zero-waste-beauty-businesses

5. https://www.beautypackaging.com/contents/view_experts-opinion/2022-08-29/can-circular-beauty-put-an-end-to-the-cosmetics-industrys-waste-issue/

6. https://sustainabilitymag.com/top10/top-10-businesses-combating-litter-landfill