Sustainable Practices in the Life Cycle of Cosmetic Products

A special issue of Cosmetics (ISSN 2079-9284).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 October 2023) | Viewed by 15139

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
UCIBIO/REQUIMTE, MedTech-Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology, Department of Drug Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira nº 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
Interests: antioxidants; natural products; sunscreens and anti-aging cosmetics; phototoxicity; photostability and photoprotection; mechanical and sensory characterization of topical formulations; patient centric design of topical products; health literacy in cosmetology
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Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malta, Tal-Qroqq, MSD 2080 Msida, Malta
Interests: resource efficiency; sustainable manufacturing; sustainable water treatment
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Guest Editor
Faculty of Sustainability, Institute of Sustainable and Environmental Chemistry, Leuphana University Lueneburg, Universitaetsallee. 1, C13, 21335 Lueneburg, Germany
Interests: sustainable chemistry; material resources

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The cosmetic industry is seeking to develop more sustainable products. This endeavor is supported by consumers, who are displaying increasing awareness of the environmental footprint of cosmetic products and new regulatory requirements. The cosmetics industry is implementing practices at all stages of the life cycle of cosmetic products to address sustainability issues.

This Special Issue will cover all strategies adopted to minimize the environmental footprint of the cosmetics industry, from the design and sourcing of ingredients to distribution and consumer use. It will include formulation design, packaging and manufacturing and will also address methodologies for the evaluation of environmental impact, including sustainability metrics and ecotoxicological risk assessment.

Reflections on the innovation, challenges and opportunities presented to the cosmetic and chemistry industries, as well as future perspectives on sustainability action, are welcome.

Dr. Isabel Martins De Almeida
Dr. Paul Refalo
Prof. Dr. Klaus Kümmerer
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 3043 KiB  
Article
Reducing the Environmental Impacts of Plastic Cosmetic Packaging: A Multi-Attribute Life Cycle Assessment
by Nicole Vassallo and Paul Refalo
Cosmetics 2024, 11(2), 34; https://doi.org/10.3390/cosmetics11020034 - 28 Feb 2024
Viewed by 5199
Abstract
The global packaging industry has been growing significantly, resulting in an increase in waste and emissions. Social responsibilities, regulations and targets are shifting companies’ priorities to various sustainable practices. This study comprised a life cycle assessment (LCA) to quantify and compare key initiatives [...] Read more.
The global packaging industry has been growing significantly, resulting in an increase in waste and emissions. Social responsibilities, regulations and targets are shifting companies’ priorities to various sustainable practices. This study comprised a life cycle assessment (LCA) to quantify and compare key initiatives influencing the sustainability of plastic cosmetic packaging. The life cycle environmental effects of dematerialisation, recycled content, energy-saving initiatives and renewable energy powering the manufacturing processes, and the end-of-life (EoL) recycling rates of various scenarios, were evaluated. Moreover, a variety of fossil-based and bio-based polymers, such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), wood–polymer composite (WPC) and polylactic acid (PLA), were considered. The study determined that dematerialisation and recycled content had the most beneficial impacts on packaging sustainability. When 100% recycled materials were used, an overall impact reduction of 42–60% was noted for all the materials considered. Using 100% renewable energy and applying measures to reduce the energy consumption in the manufacturing stage by 50% reduced the total impact by approximately 9–17% and 7–13%, respectively. Furthermore, it was concluded that PP had the lowest environmental impacts in the majority of the case scenarios considered, by an average of 46%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Practices in the Life Cycle of Cosmetic Products)
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12 pages, 3708 KiB  
Article
Developing Botanical Formulations for Sustainable Cosmetics
by Lonetá Lauro Lima, Karina Bispo-dos-Santos, Ingrid Mayara Cavalcante Trevisan, Catarina Rapôso, Paulo Eduardo Neves Ferreira Velho, Ediléia Bagatin, Rodrigo Alvarenga Rezende, Jorge Vicente Lopes da Silva and Gislaine Ricci Leonardi
Cosmetics 2023, 10(6), 159; https://doi.org/10.3390/cosmetics10060159 - 22 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2665
Abstract
Interest in clean beauty is rising due to minimalism in the formulation of cosmetics, rational use of water, and fewer chemical additives like preservatives, colorants, surfactants, and artificial fragrances. Green ingredients lead to the development of sustainable formulations with advanced performance and are [...] Read more.
Interest in clean beauty is rising due to minimalism in the formulation of cosmetics, rational use of water, and fewer chemical additives like preservatives, colorants, surfactants, and artificial fragrances. Green ingredients lead to the development of sustainable formulations with advanced performance and are less aggressive to human health and the environment. Currently, the electrospinning technique is used as a simple one-step manufacturing process to produce nanostructured cosmetics under mild temperature conditions. This study focuses on the utilization of rice bran oil (RBO) in the creation of sustainable nanostructured cosmetics for potential cosmetic and well-being applications. Four sustainable formulations were developed to optimize the creation of nanostructured cosmetics using ethyl cellulose and rice bran oil (RBO). Ethanol absolute and polyvinyl pyrrolidone have been chosen to compose the sustainable formulation due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability. We studied four different RBO concentrations regarding morphology, encapsulation efficiency, biodegradability, and cytotoxicity. Nanostructured cosmetics present biomimetic surfaces, high RBO encapsulation ability, low mass loss at simulated physiologic conditions, and non-cytotoxicity. Therefore, the minimalist sustainable formulation does not contain any toxic solvents and incompatible harmful excipients, was nanostructured using a mild manufacturing process, and obtained high RBO entrapment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Practices in the Life Cycle of Cosmetic Products)
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17 pages, 2418 KiB  
Article
On the Path to Sustainable Cosmetics: Development of a Value-Added Formulation of Solid Shampoo Incorporating Mango Peel Extract
by Inês Brito, Sara M. Ferreira and Lúcia Santos
Cosmetics 2023, 10(5), 140; https://doi.org/10.3390/cosmetics10050140 - 3 Oct 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4720
Abstract
The excessive use of water and plastic packaging in the cosmetic industry imposes the need to develop sustainable alternatives. Moreover, agricultural by-products are reported in the literature to be rich in bioactive properties, namely high antioxidant capacity, suggesting their potential use in cosmetic [...] Read more.
The excessive use of water and plastic packaging in the cosmetic industry imposes the need to develop sustainable alternatives. Moreover, agricultural by-products are reported in the literature to be rich in bioactive properties, namely high antioxidant capacity, suggesting their potential use in cosmetic formulations as substitutes for commercial additives. The aim of this work was the development of a sustainable formulation of solid shampoo, incorporating extracts from mango peel as antioxidants. The characterization of the extracts revealed the presence of several phenolic compounds and a strong antioxidant capacity. Six formulations of solid shampoo were produced by varying the quantity of the additives: tocopherol and butylated hydroxytoluene, used as positive controls, and mango peel (MP) extract. The antioxidant capacity assays demonstrated that the MP extract increased the antioxidant activity of the shampoos, in comparison to the positive controls and the stability tests revealed that the MP extract is a stable ingredient. Hence, it was concluded that the MP extract is a strong source of antioxidants with the potential to replace commercial antioxidants in cosmetics. Thus, it was possible to develop a value-added formulation of solid shampoo, eliminating the use of water and plastic for the packaging, and reusing waste from the food sector. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Practices in the Life Cycle of Cosmetic Products)
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