Harm to healing: Sustainable beauty shifts to ecosystem restoration

Environmentally sustainable beauty has moved from an added bonus to a standard as consumers and regulations increasingly demand a traceable supply chain. The industry is being put under new environmental expectations, responding with technological innovations and increased transparency. 

Personal Care Insights sits down with experts from Symrise and Givaudan Active Beauty to discuss how the industry is ensuring sustainability throughout the supply chain, the role of biotech and AI, and the actions consumers expect from the industry. 

“Today’s trending sustainable beauty solutions are characterized by a move toward measurable impact and transparent data, moving beyond simplistic ‘green’ claims,” says Gaëlle Bathany, VP of global marketing and Sustainability Cosmetic Ingredients at Symrise. 

Mathias Fleury, head of Actives at Givaudan Active Beauty, adds that the beauty industry is undergoing a shift from “being green” as a marketing differentiator to sustainability as a baseline requirement. 

“The most prominent solutions gaining traction are circular and regenerative approaches — moving beyond ‘do not harm’ into actively restoring ecosystems such as regenerative sourcing, reforestation, and partnerships.”

Fleury says upcycled ingredients are replacing ingredients linked to biodiversity pressure (deforestation, overharvesting) or petroleum origin. These are produced by valorizing by‑products from other industries, such as food and fragrance, into high-value actives. Additionally, waste streams are reduced, and lab-grown alternatives are made to replace natural or petrochemical ingredients.

He states lab-grown alternatives offer identical, or even better, efficacy and purity. 

“High-transparency claims such as ‘clean beauty’ are evolving into proof-backed sustainability, such as life cycle assessment (LCA), for verified environmental savings and carbon footprint disclosure.”

A shift in the industry

The industry is shifting from intention to accountability, guided by science-based roadmaps and transparent metrics, says Bathany.

“Key priorities include developing and executing low-carbon transition plans across Scopes 1, 2, and 3 — from raw material sourcing, to consumer use, to end-of-life. At the product level, companies need LCAs based on primary production data to pinpoint hotspots and focus on the relevant priorities to reduce emissions.” 

The industry is shifting from intention to accountability, guided by science-based roadmaps and transparent metrics.She argues that biodegradability-by-design and environmental fate should be established as fundamental gatekeeping criteria in new ingredient development, alongside safety and efficacy. 

“Transparency and traceability must extend beyond ‘naturals,’ shedding light on complex supply chains and the social equity integral to them. The change required is a shift to green chemistry, upcycling, and biotech platforms that decouple growth from virgin resources,” says Bathany.

Personal Care Insights recently spoke with experts about how natural does not equal sustainable. Natural cosmetic ingredients require large amounts of resources, such as land and water, complicating sustainability in the manufacturing process. Assuming that “natural equals sustainable” creates a fine line to greenwashing, and labels often mislead consumers into making unsustainable choices.

Symrise spotlights its New Green Alchemy approach, which works to deliver efficacy while responsibly innovating in the beauty and well-being categories. 

“Key benefits driving momentum include longevity, climate adaptation, and the mind-skin connection, all without compromising sensorial pleasure or performance. On the consumer side, ‘less is more’ is the guiding principle, evident in minimalist routines, multifunctional formulas, high efficacy concentrates, and smart refill systems,” says Bathany.

This demonstrates how innovation in ingredient development can reduce biodiversity pressure by upcycling by-products through conscious sourcing and employing green chemistry. 

Moreover, formulations increasingly feature climate-adaptive ingredients derived from resilient plants and marine ecosystems, designed to perform across diverse environmental challenges.

“Ultimately, consumers prioritize holistic well-being and actively seek sustainability and traceability in their beauty choices,” continues Bathany.

Needed actions from the industry

Fleury shares that the priorities for improving the industry’s sustainability are clear from inside the sector. He says the focus should be on raw materials, supply chain traceability, water stewardship, and reducing carbon. 

Fleury says the industry should focus on raw materials, supply chain traceability, water stewardship, and reducing carbon.To reduce raw material impact, Fleury suggests pivoting from environmentally intensive natural sourcing to biotech, fermentation, and upcycling. Meanwhile, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and social equity risks need to be assessed for supply chain traceability. 

He details that water stewardship implies reformulating with waterless systems or alternative solvents, while minimizing the water used. Meanwhile, carbon should be reduced by implementing low-energy processing and localized production to cut transport emissions.

Fleury further stresses that the required changes include redesigning portfolios to reduce reliance on ingredients with high deforestation or land-use. He suggests partnering with suppliers for end-to-end traceability, farm-level certification, and rethinking packaging solutions to maximize reusability and recyclability.

He shares that Givaudan Active Beauty contributes to this through replacing biodiversity-stressed naturals with biotech equivalents. 

The company is also scaling up upcycled ingredient launches to valorize waste streams, performing LCAs across molecules (such as hyaluronic acids). Givaudan is expanding “water-responsible” formulas and formats, including solid cleansers and powder-to-foam, in their concepts and prototypes.

Using technology to leverage sustainability

The industry has seen an increase in biotech-backed innovations for more sustainable cosmetics, especially in advancing plant-based solutions and green chemistry.

Symrise says that technology is a key enabler for sustainable beauty. The company uses biotech to produce high-purity actives with minimal resources and AI to personalize skin care. 

“These tools help scale sustainability without compromising performance,” says Bathany. 

“AI is revolutionizing how Symrise discovers ingredients and designs clean formulations. By analyzing vast datasets, AI helps Symrise identify novel actives and optimize product performance while minimizing environmental footprint.”

She further exemplifies Symfrequency Technology, an advanced wave-assisted extraction method enabling fast, energy-efficient processing of botanicals using safe solvents like water. 

“It delivers high concentrations of active molecules while minimizing environmental impact — aligning with our upcycling and clean beauty goals.” 

The technology is specifically designed to produce targeted molecules with high accuracy and precision fermentation. This allows the company to create ingredients that would otherwise be difficult, expensive, or unsustainable to source from nature. 

Bathany shares that applications include animal-free proteins, collagen, vitamins, and specialty enzymes. The technology ensures consistency and scalability, significantly reducing reliance on natural resources and intensive farming supply chains, resulting in lower greenhouse gas emissions and a more sustainable future.

The industry has seen an increase in biotech-backed innovations for more sustainable cosmetics.Regarding green processing platforms, Symrise’s proprietary technologies allow for transforming biomass and waste into valuable cosmetic ingredients. This includes solvent recycling, energy-efficient synthesis, and the use of renewable feedstocks.

Givaudan uses biotechnology for fermentation and precision fermentation to produce molecules like BisaboLife or PrimalHyal 50 Life. Fleury says the compounds match or exceed their natural counterparts in purity and efficacy without ecological depletion.

“Lab-grown actives are enabling the creation of high-value complex molecules previously obtainable only via large-scale extraction, such as polysaccharides or complex polyphenol derivatives.”

He adds that using AI and data analytics optimizes formulation R&D and enables predictive modelling to achieve performance with less environmental impact, such as modelling skin-ingredient interactions to avoid over-formulation.

Fleury says these technologies, green chemistry, and upcycling processes, are central to scaling sustainability. 

Preparing for the EUDR

The industry is preparing for the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), taking effect later this year. 

Bathany tells us: “As forests are vital for soil conservation, biodiversity, climate regulation, and carbon sequestration, Symrise is dedicated to fully integrating EUDR guidelines into its operations and strongly encourages its suppliers to join its collective commitment to protecting the ecosystem.”

She says the company strives to maximize the supply of forestry raw materials from certified sustainable sources per recognized standards and continuously improve the traceability of high-risk forest products. 

“Symrise’s policies prioritize sourcing wood and wood products from responsible and sustainable sources, ensuring the protection of forests and the prevention of deforestation and forest degradation. Through responsible procurement practices and continuous improvement in traceability and forest risk assessment procedures, Symrise supports conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems and ecosystem services.”

Fleury from Givaudan says the EUDR is one of many changes and measurements that are considered against its innovations and portfolio

“Assessing our supply chain, together with our procurement team, aligning on goals and certifications, and reformulating ingredients if needed — this is all part of our work, for this regulatory evolution and many others.”