Beauty And Personal Care Products Industry ESG Thematic Report, 2023

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) in the Beauty And Personal Care Products Industry

Sustainable investments have become key trends in recent times, where the corporations, governments and consumers are striving to make a change in an impactful manner.

There are a wide range of issues in the industry, pertaining to ESG, where the key leaders of the market are striving to function positively in the sphere of ESG. Challenges pertaining to social and environmental aspects of the ESG in the beauty and personal care products industry are existing, such as the racial differences and packaging of the products that are hindering the industry in the spheres of environment and social of ESG arena.

Recent change in the consumer awareness in terms of social inclusiveness and the consciousness amongst the key manufacturers of the industry have affected the ESG trends.

ESG Trends

Key companies in the industry, have included different ethnic and genders to their workforce, creating a positive impact on the social aspect of the ESG. Some of the major players in the industry have improved their policies on waste management, packaging life cycle and plastic pollution, thereby creating a positive impact on the environment. Players have pledged to make the packaging recyclable and reusable through using combinations of materials used for manufacturing the packages i.e., essentially using the cradle-to-cradle method, thereby promoting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG) 13 which is Climate Action.

A leading company in this industry based in Britain has a consensus amongst their board members to initiate action against climate change, where they have committed to certain practices such as deforestation free supply chain, a net zero emissions products by 2039, a regenerative agricultural code for all the suppliers, which reflect the governance core values, enforcing SDG 16 - Peace Justice and Strong Institutions.

One of the key players of the market, has released its workforce statistics, where gender diversity is promoted in the workforce - 55% being female and 44% Male. Also, some leading brands have introduced BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) products to their product line up, thereby including people of different race and ethnicities into their target audience. These help companies to work towards achieving the UN SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities.

Certain challenges such as the microbeads in the personal care products segment of the beauty and personal care products industry can be threatening to consumers as well as to the environment. These being one of the important components in the skin care products, tend to damage the skin of the consumer thereby having a significant negative impact on SDG 3 - Good Health and Wellbeing.

Preservatives such as parabens and triclosan, which are found in the majority of cosmetic products, are also responsible for ocean chemical pollution. Oxybenzone, one of the ingredients in sunscreens, is considered as an endocrine disruptor and it has been reported that fourteen thousand tons of sunscreen is released into the ocean every year causing damage to coral reefs. This creates a significant negative impact in terms of UN SDG 14 - Life Below Water.

One of the key companies of the beauty and personal care products market, which specializes in production of organic beauty products through their products is reducing the negative impacts of the preservatives, replacing them with natural and organic components, thereby promoting the UN SDG goal of climate action.

Growth of the Beauty And Personal Care Products Market

The beauty and personal care products market at global scale was valued economically at USD 482.8 billion as of 2021 and is forecasted to expand with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 7.7% from 2022 to 2030.  The policies that direct the actions of the players in the market are based on the UN SDG Goals. Inclusion of a versatile work force in terms of race and gender and the inclusion of different ethnicities into the consumer scale, sustainable manufacturing process that involve the packaging and manufacturing of the products are some of the driving factors of the market in terms of ESG.

Key Companies in this theme

    • Unilever

    • The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.

    • Kao Corporation

    • Shiseido Co., Ltd.

    • Revlon

    • Oriflame Cosmetics S.A.

Scope Of the Beauty and Personal Care Products Industry ESG Thematic Report

    • Macro-economic and ESG-variable analysis of the industry, including regulatory, policy, and innovation landscape

    • Key insights on infrastructure developments and ESG issues affecting the theme

    • Identify key initiatives and challenges within the industry

    • Identify ESG leaders within the industry

    • Understand key initiatives and the impact of companies within the sector to fuel an informed decision-making process

    • Analysis of industry activities based on multi-media sources, including significant controversies and market sentiment

Key aspects of the Beauty and Personal Care Products Industry ESG Thematic Report

    • Offers a global perspective of the market and the policies and measures taken by the players, for overcoming the challenges faced in terms of Environment, Social and Governance.

    • Key insights into the sustainability practices of major players in the market.