Creation of the Green Impact Index Consortium
23 November 2022
25 economic actors representing more than 1,000 companies join forces to develop an Environmental and Social Impact Labelling Scheme for cosmetic and well-being products.
The Green Impact Index: A tool developed under the coordination of AFNOR Standardization, the French official certification body, to provide consumers with simple and transparent information on the environmental and social impact of their care and well-being products (cosmetics, family health, food supplements).
How? The Green Impact Index Consortium brings together small and medium-sized businesses, middle-market companies and large companies recognized for their ability to develop innovative cosmetic and well-being products and for their commitment to sustainable development.
November 23, 2022 - Gathered within the Green Impact Index Consortium, a collective of 25 economic actors representing more than 1,000 companies, complemented by independent expert consultancies and an academic institution, have decided to pool their expertise to define a methodology for labelling the environmental and social impact of cosmetic and well-being products. This future methodology will be based on a first version of the Green Impact Index launched in June 2021 by the Pierre Fabre Group to measure and display the socio-environmental impact of its products.
The actors of the Consortium have decided to unite their efforts, under the coordination of AFNOR Standardization, to draft an AFNOR Spec that will revise the Green Impact Index methodology to improve it and make it usable on the largest scale possible. At the end of the process (expected by the end of the 2nd quarter of 2023), the methodology will become available to any company – from small businesses to large international groups – willing to measure, improve and display in a simple way the environmental and social impact of its care or well-being products, within the standardized and co-constructed framework provided by an AFNOR Spec.
The Green Impact Index Consortium’s open, collective and participative initiative gives laboratories of the size of Phytema – a dozen employees – the opportunity to share their needs and expertise. The completion of this AFNOR Spec will allow start-ups, microbusinesses, small and medium-sized businesses to improve the eco-design of their products autonomously on the basis of a reliable, robust methodology that is financially accessible.
The Choice of the Green Impact Index
The reliability and robustness of the Green Impact Index is based on the use of official standards and benchmarks for eco- and social design.
The Green Impact Index stands out with the following advantages:
- It applies to a wide array of care and well-being product families, ranging from cosmetics to food supplements to family health;
- It integrates both the environmental and social impacts of products;
- It integrates criteria based on official labels and standards, an approach that is more global than the life cycle analysis of products (LCA);
- It is based on a first version launched in June 2021 and which already applies to more than 2,700 products marketed internationally.
The Green Impact Index is a multi-criteria tool. In addition to carbon footprint, it integrates social, biodiversity and naturalness issues, to move towards more sustainable products. Its AFNOR Spec will propose labeling that takes all CSR issues into account. Our studies show that consumers expect this holistic approach and that they want to compare products thanks to the same methodology applied by several brands.
The Choice of an AFNOR Spec
The AFNOR Spec is a reference document drawn up by a group of players under the direction of AFNOR Standardization. The time required to draft the document is generally short (3 to 6 months). The lifespan of an AFNOR Spec is 3 years, which gives it time to prove itself and to serve as a basis for the development of an international standard.
We are delighted to support such a wide range of players, and to see them come together to share their needs and expertise in the eco-design of care and well-being products. The drafting of an AFNOR Spec is the guarantee of an open approach to reach a consensus between experts. It will enable this working group to take the first step towards future standardization
The Green Impact Index Consortium is working on a reference document for manufacturers of finished products and their suppliers of raw materials or packaging items in the cosmetics, food supplements and family health sectors. All environmental and social issues related to products will be addressed using criteria assessed based on official labels and standards to ensure the robustness of the methodology.
Associating both manufacturers and raw material suppliers in this project is a real strength. In order to identify and meet all the criteria that allow us to evaluate a product from an environmental and social point of view, we need to go back to the source, i.e., to the raw materials. With this tool, we, as suppliers of fragrance compositions and plant extracts, will be able to better meet our clients’ needs.
Members in the Consortium
Manufacturers of Cosmetic Products and Food Supplements: Arkopharma, Aroma-zone, Biocodex, Laboratoire ODOST (Buccotherm), Green Family (Love & Green), Pierre-Fabre Dermo-Cosmetics, Rocher Group, Ladrôme Laboratoire, Léa Nature, Naturactive, Laboratoire Phytema
Manufacturers of Cosmetic Ingredients: BASF, DSM, Berkem Group
Fragrance Composition House: TechnicoFlor
Professional Federations and Unions: Cosmebio (566 members), Cosmed (997 members), Synadiet (280 members), Aspa Ingrecos (46 members)
Competitiveness Hub: Innov'Alliance (440 members in the fields of agri-food, food supplements and health, cosmetics and fragrance and aroma ingredients)
Design Office: DuraConsult, Ecoeff Lab, Laboratoire Scanae
Academic Institution: University of Nantes
Press contacts :
Deborah Marx
06 23 00 91 98
Leslie Toledano
06 10 20 79 60
contact@leslietoledano-pressoffice.com