Cradle to Cradle® Consumer goods and Cosmetics

Consumables and cosmetics have a considerable influence on our personal health and the wellbeing of our environment. Substances of toxicological concern enter into the body when in contact with the skin and then pass into the environment via waste water after use. The microplastic often contained in many consumables and cosmetics constitutes an additional challenge. The tiny particles are extremely difficult to filter and therefore pose a risk for both humans and animals.

Manufacturers of consumables and cosmetics react to this with the promise to replace the problematic constituents with alternative substances in the future. However, the aim should be a healthy and environmentally friendly design of consumables, cosmetics and their packaging from the outset.

What is the difference to existing consumer goods and cosmetic products?

Cradle to Cradle® not only avoids using problematic constituents. All constituents are also positively defined at a chemical level. This way, components of consumables and cosmetics are optimised for use - i.e. contact with the skin - as well as for after use. Or in other words: for the biological as well as for the technical cycle. This means that they can create added value for humans, the environment and the responsible manufacturers.

„Consumer products for skin contact have to be optimized for exactly that purpose. “

Not only the cosmetic product, but also its packaging is optimised. Plastic packaging of consumables and cosmetics can be reintroduced to the technical cycle via a take-back system, thus presenting high-quality recycling as a solution for the increasing amount of packaging waste. Chemicals such as some kinds of parabens which are said to have a potential hormonal effect causing health problems, would disappear from our households.

How does EPEA support the implementation of Cradle to Cradle® consumer goods and cosmetic products?

For more than 30 years, we have been working together with suppliers and manufacturers of chemicals, packaging, cleaning agents and cosmetics on a global scale. We support companies with global supply chains in the implementation of Cradle to Cradle® and jointly develop solutions for technical and biological cycles: from the optimisation of the constituents to recyclable packaging.

  • Material / chemical evaluation and optimization
  • Design for Disassembly
  • C2C Certified™ Certification
  • Transparent supply chain
  • Development of take-back systems

The EPEA science team has comprehensive expertise in the areas of chemical and biological compositions, additives and packaging characteristics for consumables and cosmetics. We use this know-how for the optimisation of products with regard to material safety and recyclability. When designing and implementing C2C products, every single constituent is therefore examined for compatibility with the environment and health.

 

What added value do Cradle to Cradle® consumer goods and cosmetic products offer?

The consumer goods and cosmetic products optimised for contact with the skin cannot only be recycled as nutrients but are also as far as possible made using renewable energies and under fair social conditions. This is beneficial for our oceans, rivers and forests, creates social added values and makes each of us part of the solution when buying these products. Together, we can achieve:

The highest ecological product quality

Knowledge about all ingredients of a product

Transparent and fair supply chains

A positive CO2 footprint

Recyclable and sustainable products

Werner & Mertz

Werner & Mertz GmbH developed their raw material and recipe evaluation system independently.

WEPA

WEPA analysed their complete production process and all materials they used in order to identify the…

Stabilo

The company has put a great effort into developing pens that are largely made from recycled…
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