The beauty industry is projected to reach almost 580 Billion USD by 2027, reaching that number with a 6% growth rate1.This harkens great news for business owners and investors but there is a downside: the rise of ‘Fast beauty’, where new products are launched in such quick in succession that one does not even have the time to evaluate the last. Do consumers really need more skin creams when their bathroom shelf is still bursting with half finished product?
To keep up with the industry’s pace, launching new products is necessary. It helps brands stay relevant and provides opportunities to engage with their communities. But how can we ensure our new products aren't just adding to the clutter? Aside from market-fit, consider designing with sustainable design principles in mind.
The best way to create a sustainable product is to think about sustainability from the very beginning. Planning thoroughly can help reduce waste. Here are six strategies to guide the creation of your next product.
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We start our design process by material selection and sourcing
Dematerialization
The simplest way to be sustainable is to use less. Opt for minimalist packaging and formulations. By eliminating unnecessary packaging, you reduce the weight and volume of transport, saving energy and cutting transportation costs.
Next Best materials selection
When developing a product, prioritize biodegradable, recycled/upcycled, or at least recyclable materials. This ensures that your product has a smaller environmental footprint.
We then start thinking about the operations...
Green supply chain
Choosing materials that use less amount of energy to product should be prioritized. For example, a cold process formulation will be more sustainable than an emulsion, due to the heat involved in its creation. Using recycled materials for your packaging uses much less energy to create packaging from virgin material.
An optimized supply chain can also reduce transport costs and emissions. For instance, choosing sea freight over air freight is cheaper and better for the environment. On land, working with electric fleets can further reduce your impact.
Next, we need to consider how the product behaves when it is out with the consumer, and how its being used.
Longevity
We want our products to last as long as possible on the consumer's shelf. Not only does the product and packaging need to be functional, designing packaging that can be reused after the product has been exhausted can be a sustainable choice if done correctly. It’s essential that customers actually reuse the packaging. A great refillable system which includes beautiful packaging and good logistical support can help encourage this behaviour.
Another way is also to ensure that the formulation has a good shelf life and is appropriately packaged to minimize spoilage and waste.
Product Efficiency
Much of the carbon footprint of a product lies during the use life of a product. Designing products that are efficient ‘in the wild’ can be beneficial. For example, a more concentrated/ multi-use formulation requires less volume of product to be transported around, or a shampoo that requires less water during use because it can wet the hair easily. Functionality plays into the efficiency, and the packaging needs to be able to dispense the correct amount of product, and not too much, leading to waste.
Lastly, we need to consider what happens to the product once it is no longer useful to the consumer.
Circularity
We want to ensure that the used packaging is efficiently returned into the supply chain so it can continue another life, rather than ending up in a landfill. Incorporating elements to encourage circular habits by consumers is the final step to tie all your sustainable elements together. For example, using packaging that is either mono material or easy to break apart for recycling can increase recycling rates, or using easy to understand recycling guides such as the Australasian Recycling Label from APCO.
It is our responsibility to develop products with sustainability and intentionality in mind, to prevent another ‘fast’ industry from emerging.
1McKinsey,2023, The beauty market in 2023: A special State of Fashion report, https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/the-beauty-market-in-2023-a-special-state-of-fashion-report#/
