Business ideas for 2020: Eco-beauty

When it comes to the environment, the beauty industry is not a pretty picture.

Our obsession with looking good is also an addiction to unsustainable products and single-use plastics.

This cheap, durable material was a godsend for a sector that needed to transport liquids and gels around the world. But a lot of those plastic containers end up in the oceans, where they’re not easily broken down, and are consumed by sea life.

According to Surfers Against Sewage, recent studies have found plastic pollution in 100% of marine turtles, 59% of whales, 36% of seals, and 40% of seabirds examined.

It’s not just plastic in the oceans that’s the problem. It’s the whole supply chain of producing, packaging, and transporting beauty products around the world.

And with 83% of consumers saying they would opt for a brand with a good record on sustainability (according to J. Walter Thompson Intelligence), environmental impact should be one of your main considerations if you’re launching any business in 2020.

Why is eco-beauty a good business idea?

The 2020s are set to be defined by hyper-sensitivity about the environmental impact of our consumer choices, but the beauty industry still has a long way to go…

New businesses in the sector are in the privileged position of being able to build sustainability into their products from the outset (rather than as a tricky and expensive retrofit).

That goes for the way products are packaged, and the various liquids, gels, sprays, and vapours we douse ourselves in everyday.

According to retail analytics firm Edited, the global beauty industry is valued at $532bn. And according to the British Beauty Council’s Value of Beauty report, the UK’s beauty sector alone was worth £27.2bn in 2018.

By capitalising on this new breed of environmentally-conscious consumers with sustainable alternatives, you could tidy up.

The Blue Planet II effect has been significant. According to the Waitrose & Partners Food & Drink Report 2018-19, 88% of people who watched the programme have changed their lifestyles to reduce single-use plastic.

However, while we’re generally good at recycling kitchen waste (an estimated 90% of us do), only half of us recycle bathroom products such as shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel. It’s no good just reducing your use of one kind of plastic if you’re too lazy to recycle your empty toiletries.

Big brands have been doing their bit to try and change consumer behaviour. Selfridges has been running its Project Ocean campaign since 2011. Held on the ground floor of its Oxford Street flagship store, the Beauty Booth allows shoppers to discover, shop and test plastic-conscious products, with 10% of sales donated to the Zoological Society of London.

And this National Geographic article covers a number of smaller companies that are introducing more environmentally conscious alternatives. Unsurprisingly, they tend to be more expensive to produce, and therefore to buy.

Regulation can go some way to improving environmental practices in the industry, but changing consumer behaviour is going to be essential if we want widespread adoption of alternatives. First movers might face a challenge, but people are increasingly willing to sacrifice some convenience if it means protecting the environment.

Insider opinion

Katie White, founder of re:lax, a Hackney-based Skin Studio offering bespoke, non-invasive facials, comments:

“The beauty industry is responsible for massive amounts of waste and the rise of sustainable beauty startups is a drop in the ocean compared to the scale of production from big beauty houses.

“However, many of these big brands are beginning to recognise the responsibility they have for the environment, and are making sustainability pledges for the future.

“In the past, many elements of beauty product packaging  – including tops and pumps – haven’t been recyclable. More and more, major beauty brands are making sure this is no longer the case. As well as creating entirely recyclable packaging, they’re now offering refill initiatives through supermarkets, which is great to see.

“I think 2020 will see the industry adapting to sustainable business practices more than ever. It was only this year that microbeads were banned, which is probably the first in a wave of unsustainable ingredients such as glitter experiencing the same fate. While this will force existing companies to act on the environment, the space is wide open for disruptive new startups”