18 PANEL DISCUSSION
cosmetics I think it’s coming. It’s going to make our processes more sustainable and give us access to new kinds of molecules.
TP: The sustainability of cosmetic ingredients is de rigueur. But it can be a challenge to maintain the balancing act between efficacy, competitiveness and sustainability. How do you pull it off? DS: It’s not easy. To be sustainable and to be price sensitive, it’s a procurement thing. It’s also question a backward integration. You need cheap starting materials because otherwise that cost balance will not work. Biotechnology will help with that. LC:. For me, sustainability is not just about producing ingredients. It’s about the entire values of our company. Very strategic. It’s about rethinking biological strategies and using green chemistries to optimise our bioprocesses. For example, how we can use less water. We need think about frugality and think about what is abundant in nature, and what is possible to use from nature. Upcycling is one example. SL: Everybody is concerned about sustainability these days. This is a positive message, and different from five to ten years ago. But I don’t see sustainability as
simply an environmental target, it also needs to give other advantages. We can compare this to other industries, like car industries. If you drive through China, it’s
impressive how many green licence plates you see. It’s not just about sustainability, it’s also about the technological advantages of electric cars.
We need to think about the
technological advantage of cosmetic ingredients, not just sustainability. If we can make this happen with biotechnology, biocatalysis, green chemistry, then we’re on the right path. MB: A recent survey found 80% of consumers are willing to spend more on sustainable products and 91% feel better using natural origin ingredients. This is useful to understand.
TP: Ingredient manufacturers tell me they are coming under ever more pressure from customers to produce actives with increased efficacy at lower concentrations – 0.5% or 1% instead of 2% and so forth - so they can buy less volume. How do you manage this
For luxury brands, efficacy
has become the new natural. The end-consumer is more
educated than ever Provital global marketing & sales director Marc Bañolas
company operating in different fields, from personal care to animal nutrition and many other things. Every time we connect these fields, it’s beneficial. That can also apply to cooperating with companies outside of Evonik. There are many ways I can
challenge? JA: We try to increase the concentration of natural extracts to reduce the volume of active ingredients. As we’ve discussed, synthetic
molecules or biocatalysis are ways to target more efficient molecules.
TP: Regulation. In terms of the global regulatory regime, is it diverging or converging? It is becoming easier to manage or more difficult? MB: Definitely more difficult. The proof is that we are enlarging our regulatory department. We need more and more
people to understand how to meet each market’s regulations and make product launches there. It’s definitely more of a challenge.
TP: Why has it become a more of a challenge? Are there more boxes to tick? MB: The Nagoya Protocol [an international agreement which requires companies sourcing natural ingredients to obtain consent and agree terms from the country of origin] is tough. If we use raw material from
countries like India, for instance, PERSONAL CARE MAGAZINE May 2026
it can be tough to deal with the protocols. Sourcing raw materials of natural origin from Brazil can also be very difficult. LC: Regulation is part of our R&D. That means we integrate our regulatory team’s expertise at the beginning of our research. We incorporate regulation in our innovation strategies because it is key. SL: Evonik also has huge regulatory teams. We need to put it very early in our innovation processes so that we are ready. Regulation can be a driver of
innovation, but it’s become a huge part of our daily work.
TP: Is it still the case that the European Union tends to have the strictest regulation? DS: Well, the EU still has the animal testing ban and that’s blocking us from doing tests that are necessary in other markets. There’s no real way out of that.
TP: The final question is about co-operation. How do your companies co-operate, either with other divisions within your company, or externally? SL: Evonik is a very diverse
get inspired, either internally or externally. It could be following a talk, or getting in contact with somebody at an event. LC: Co-operation is a huge topic. For me, co-operation is not just about co-operating with people, it’s also about cooperating with every species, with AI. At Gattefossé, we have a
long-term collaboration with a very smart partner: nature. We are incorporating biomimicry into our R&D for cosmetic actives, to innovate by mimicking natural processes, structures, and systems. We also encourage people to
cross frontiers and co-operate with companies in other industries. For example, we work with hospitals. We believe in co-operating with experts and expertise that you don’t have internally. This is key to opening new paths. MB: We also work with hospitals, as well as our customers. It’s like a triangle - we are all exchanging knowledge all the time. Exchanging information is key in the scientific community and cooperation brings us synergistic effects. JA: Collaboration is key to project development. By coming at projects from different angles, it accelerates innovation.
PCM
www.personalcaremagazine.com
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