Sustainability

Walmart Inc., which aimed for a 10% reduction in use of priority chemicals in beauty, personal care and household cleaning products sold in stores by 2022, is years ahead of its goal.

Lawmakers in Hawaii and other jurisdictions may be left wanting by the National Academies of Sciences' sunscreen report, but industry groups were pleased with the academy's findings and recommendations to the EPA. The Personal Care Products Council says it confirms that scientific data are insufficient at present to conduct “realistic” ecological risk assessments of UV filters or support their bans.

Symrise AG is now projecting organic sales growth ‘significantly higher’ than 7%, versus a previous estimate of 5% to 7%. The German fragrance and flavors firm, which recorded a 10.2% increase in organic sales in the fiscal 2022 first half, pointed to Hydrolite 8 green and its partnership with biotech Evoxx Technologies among other innovation-minded moves to meet cosmetics demand.

A National Academies of Sciences report is expected in coming weeks on the environmental impacts of sunscreen ingredients and potential human health issues associated with changing use patterns. But Hawaii County legislators decided they couldn’t wait for new information to come to light, voting yes on a measure to ban sales of non-mineral sunscreens, which became law on 8 July.

Essentiality criteria for substances categorized as “most harmful” in the EU – which otherwise may be banned under the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability – must take into account social and societal benefits, says the International Fragrance Association in recently published Green Deal policy recommendations.

Governor Gavin Newsom on 30 June signed into law the Plastics Pollution Prevention and Packaging Responsibility Act, which sets thresholds and timelines for reducing plastic use and meeting recycling goals, shifting recycling burden from consumers to producers.

Tokyo-based Shiseido Company Ltd. has joined with two Japanese plastics manufacturers to create a circular economy for cosmetics packaging that they will invite other cosmetic firms to join.

Changing Markets Foundation’s greenwash.com lists P&G, L’Oreal and L’Occitane, as well as Coca-Cola, Adidas, Idea and others, among alleged offenders. “We believe that emphasis on recycling, fake small-scale refills and the use of ‘ocean plastic’ are definitely an industry front to continue the status quo of producing increasing quantity of single-use plastic,” campaign director Nusa Urbancic told HBW Insight.