British Beauty Council launches Sustainable Beauty Coalition

By Sarah Todd

07 July 2021

britishbeautycouncil.com/sustainable-beauty-coalition

The British Beauty Council has launched the Sustainable Beauty Coalition (SBC) in order to lead best practice and industry collaboration towards greater environmental responsibility.

The coalition’s 10-strong steering group will be headed by chair Jayn Sterland, UK managing director of green beauty pioneer Weleda. Other members include Jo-Anne Chidley, founder of The Beauty Kitchen; Michelle Feeney, founder of sustainable fragrance brand Floral Street; and Sian Sutherland, co-founder of A Plastic Planet.

"Whilst a growing number of brands are taking significant steps to reduce their negative impact on the planet, these efforts are patchy and uncoordinated – the coalition seeks to address this."

Jayn Sterland

SBC chair and managing director of Weleda

The SBC will be supported by an extensive advisory panel, comprising industry experts, brand owners and industry body representatives.

The launch of SBC is the culmination of a year’s work that began with the council’s commissioning of an independent sustainability report called Courage to Change.

The Sustainable Beauty Coalition's remit

• Develop a clear strategy and roadmap to accelerate sustainability in the industry

• Strengthen links across the industry, communities, voices and professional bodies to accelerate collaboration, knowledge and bolder collective efforts

• Work with the government to champion the work of the industry and support the agenda in the ‘Race to Net Zero’ campaign

• Act to create stronger frameworks and policies for the UK’s beauty sector

• Monitor the roadmap’s progress and keep the execution of initiatives under review

Researched and written by social impact consultancy Junxion Strategy, and published in November 2020, the report included a survey of 3,000 UK consumers that was conducted by environmental charity Hubbub.

"The beauty industry needs to be transparent, accountable and make changes now – we will lose the respect of the consumer if we don’t. We can and should do better."

Millie Kendall, MBE

Chief executive, British Beauty Council

The report found that one in seven consumers wanted to buy an environmentally friendly beauty product and also highlighted that 88% of people want brands to use ‘less packaging and display clearer information on how to recycle products’.