Water sustainability: A waterless life cycle for cosmetic products

Abstract

Freshwater is a precious natural resource becoming scarce due to the expanding population, pollution, urbanization and economic development, and climate change. Industry accounts for about 20% of all water withdrawals, and companies and consumers are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of the goods they produce and consume, respectively. The cosmetics industry has intensely relied on water as a key element for the formulation and manufacture of its products. Water is needed at all stages of the cosmetic product life cycle: it is one of the main ingredients in a cosmetics formulation, it is required to grow raw materials and for heating and cooling processes, equipment cleaning, and packaging production, which leads to high consumption and significant impacts in pollution. To save water and assure its sustainability, several companies are showing their commitment to reducing the water footprint of their systems. This approach includes sourcing sustainable raw materials, developing waterless, fast rinse-off or non-rinse formulas, finding alternative water sources, optimizing manufacturing processes including the adoption of circular water management in their facilities, using biodegradable, recyclable and reusable packaging, and improving transport infrastructure. The companies must also carry out consumers' education on how to responsibly use and dispose of products. Besides all the benefits to the planet, waterless products offer many advantages to consumers as they tend to be more concentrated, have richer formulations, are lighter, economical, and longer-lasting. To evaluate the product's impact, set improvement goals, report progress to society, and contribute to business transparency and informed consumption choices by consumers, it is crucial to define sustainability metrics based on water footprint assessment and achieve proper certification. Although there is still much to achieve, the collaboration between businesses, governments, regulators and communities will improve water management globally and safeguard water resources. This work aims to unravel the role of water in the cosmetic industry and strategies that can be used in each stage of a cosmetic product life cycle (conception, production, packaging, distribution, consumer use and disposal) to promote the sustainable use of water in this sector. Additionally, it shows the efforts and initiatives of some companies to raise awareness in this regard, such as waterless products of different categories already available on the market, and the publicity and information campaigns to encourage a change in cosmetics consumption and production patterns.