Attention turns to the growing trend of green actives

11-May-2014 - Last updated on 12-May-2014 at 14:43 GMT

With the demand for green actives growing at a quick rate and many ingredient suppliers producing innovative ingredients, the topic will become a key focus at this week’s Sustainable Cosmetics Summit in New York.

Event organizer Organic Monitor has tailored its program around these ingredients and will look to discuss the technical challenges and how to overcome them at the Western New York hotel on May 15-17.

Market analyst Transparency Market Research states that global demand for organic personal care products was is expected to reach $13.2 billion by 2018, growing at a CAGR of 9.6%.

This growth means green ingredients are making their way into personal care applications across the board, which in turn is raising the many technical and sustainability concerns which the summit will consider.

Plant materials were the traditional source of green actives, but food ingredients, marine sources, as well as via new sustainable extraction and processing methods are influencing ingredient development.

Companies such as Croda, Heliae, and Mibelle Biochemistry, among others, are creating new mechanisms for anti-ageing, anti-inflammation, sebum control, skin moisturization and related applications, using these methods.

Since the actives are produced from plant cells in a laboratory, they have a significantly lower environmental footprint then traditionally harvested actives, and Organic Monitor says adoption rates are expected to rise as ingredient firms benefit from scale production.

But what of the technical challenges that have presented themselves with regards to green active product development?

Organic Monitor’s Judi Beerling told CosmeticsDesign.com USA that simply having the knowledge of what ingredients classify as natural or naturally derived, where to find them, and how to use them effectively, are all queries that the industry has faced.

Sustainability and corporate social responsibility are now major drivers in the industry’s organics interest, with the green focus now widening from natural ingredients to include ethical sourcing and social accountability.

“The days of natural or organic for the sake of making such marketing claims seem to be drawing to a close,” says Beerling.

“So not only is the ‘naturalness’ of ingredients important but companies are also becoming concerned about a multitude of other issues.”

For more information on the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit, please click here.