Colgate-Palmolive Joins New EcoBeautyScore Consortium to Empower Sustainable Consumer Choices

Colgate-Palmolive joins industry players in a breakthrough initiative to develop industry-wide environmental impact assessment and scoring system for cosmetics products 

February 2022

As part of our mission to reimagine a healthier, more sustainable future for all, Colgate-Palmolive has joined the EcoBeautyScore Consortium, which aims to develop an industry-wide environmental impact assessment and scoring system for cosmetics products. A global and inclusive initiative, the Consortium is comprised of 36 cosmetics and personal care companies as well as professional associations across 4 continents – all united in our efforts to help consumers make more sustainable choices.   

Purpose: Enable consumers to make sustainable choices 

The EcoBeautyScore Consortium’s top goal is to help provide consumers with clear, transparent, and comparable environmental impact information about cosmetics products, based on a common science-based methodology. 

There is growing consumer demand for greater transparency about the environmental impact of cosmetics products (formula, packaging and usage), and we know that 42% of consumers are interested in buying brands that concentrate on circular and sustainable practices¹.

Colgate-Palmolive is committed to ingredient transparency, and by joining the Consortium, we can continue to meet this consumer demand and help consumers make more sustainable choices. 

Bringing Purpose to Life: Co-build a scientific methodology for the environmental impact assessment and scoring system

The Consortium is working with the experienced sustainability consultancy Quantis to ensure a robust and scientific approach to co-build an assessment methodology and scoring system. These are the core principles guiding the process: 

1. A common method for measuring environmental impacts throughout the lifecycle of products, backed by the principles of the “Product Environmental Footprint” (the European Union’s PEF scientific method based on life cycle assessment (LCA) for quantifying the environmental footprint of products).

2. A common database of environmental impact of standard ingredients and raw materials used in formulas and packaging, as well as during product usage.

3. A common tool that enables the assessment of the environmental impact of individual products, usable by non-experts.

4. A harmonized scoring system that enables companies, on a voluntary basis, to inform consumers about the environmental footprint of their cosmetic products. The methodology, data base, tool and scoring system will be verified by independent parties.

Next Steps

Colgate has already begun working with the other 35 members of the EcoBeautyScore Consortium, with a footprinting and scoring prototype targeted for the end of 2022. This will provide the environmental scoring for a selection of product categories at first, and will then be verified by independent parties.

Join Us 

As we continue to collaborate to reimagine a healthier, more sustainable future for all, Colgate-Palmolive extends the invitation to other industry players to join the Consortium’s mission. 

The 36 members so far include: Amorepacific, Babor, Beiersdorf, Colgate-Palmolive, Cosmébio,

COSMED, Cosmetic Valley, Cosmetics Europe, cosnova, Coty, The Estée Lauder Companies, Eugène Perma, FEBEA, The Fragrance Creators Association, Henkel, IKW Beauty Care, The International Fragrance Association, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., JUST International AG, Kao, L’Oréal Groupe, LVMH, Nafigate, NAOS, Natrue, Natura &Co, NOHBA, Oriflame, P&G, Paragon Nordic, Puig, PZ Cussons, Shiseido, Sisley, STANPA, Unilever.

The EcoBeauty Score Consortium is open to all cosmetics and personal care companies, regardless of their size or resources. Cosmetics and personal care companies and professional associations wishing to know more are invited to contact: contact@ecobeautyscore-consortium.org.