BRANDS PRODUCT WASTE
“We have trained the consumer to expect and look for innovation because we keep on churning out new things,” says Joy Chen, founder and CEO of Pure Culture Beauty, which creates custom skin care made to order in a bid to reduce waste. “But these products end up sitting in consumer’s cabinets and eventually, when they do not like them anymore or replace them with the next thing, they throw them away.”
CAN BEAUTY TURN THE TIDE ON ITS WASTE ISSUE?
There is no denying that the situation is a “difficult one to tackle” on all sides, says Victoria Brownlie, Chief of Policy at BBCo. “Unsold inventory, soon- to-expire products and discontinued lines are a common part of building brands. It can often be difficult to get the balance right when looking to grow and the need to increase production to facilitate this. The drive to sell more also means that people buy things they do not need or want.” Although the food industry has educated consumers on the distinction between ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ in recent years as a way to help reduce unnecessary waste, it is not as simple for beauty due to the regulatory and scientific framework that has been followed in the manufacture of products to make them safe for use.
“While using past an expiration date could simply just lead to reduced efficacy, there could also be risk of harm from preservatives within products losing their effectiveness, meaning germs can grow or expired chemicals and ingredients can have a negative reaction on the body, much like with expired medication,” adds Brownlie. “We must, therefore, maintain real caution in regards to recommendations in this area.”
Despite it feeling like the industry is not talking about product waste in a substantial way, there are voices making their way through the static to shine a spotlight on some tangible solutions – and not just to sell these products to discount sites, which many regard as a plaster on the problem.
HOW TO SELL ‘PERFECTLY IMPERFECT’ PRODUCTS
Online beauty site Glorious Beauty was inspired by subscription box services selling bruised fruit and vegetables to launch its Love Beauty, Hate Waste initiative. The distributor has been offering customers discounts of between 40% and 60% on products from Trilogy, PÜR, Sweed and Stila, which might otherwise have been sent to landfill. These range from items that have superficial damage, such as scratches or dents, to products that have undergone a packaging change or are due to expire in six months, explaining that there is a timeline on how long customers can use these items for. Since launching in January 2023, the company has sold hundreds of items and has experienced a 300% increase in customer contact from those who want to learn more.
“By doing this we are taking a huge chunk of our margin out, but it is avoiding us having to take any
52 June 2023
Gallinée’s Anti-Waste Operation enables customers to purchase products close to their expiration date at a reduced price
other action with the product,” says Tracy Moores, owner and Company Director of Glorious Beauty. “But we have to think about how we manage the lifecycle of these products and how we deal with issues like retailers sending back unsold or excess inventory.” There is now potential scope for Love Beauty, Hate Waste to become a standalone consumer-facing website.
Gallinée has been successfully running a similar scheme since 2022. The brand’s Anti-Waste Operation enables customers to purchase products close to their expiration date at a reduced price – usually between 20% and 70% – so that no item has to be discarded via landfill.
“The products are still perfectly safe to use for many months, it is just about transparency for the customer,” explains Drago. Beauty distributor Skinbrands, meanwhile, has been donating products dented or scratched in transit to domestic abuse charity Changing Pathways in Basildon, UK, since November 2022.
TURNING FORMULATION DISASTERS INTO NEW PRODUCTS
On the flip side, indie brand founders are finding new ways to turn unforeseen formulation mishaps into something viable. “Pilot production batches that get rejected and do not see the light of day is something that inspired me to speak more about this behind the scenes waste,” says Yoo, whose KraveBeauty brand placed a large production order for a reformulation of its Matcha Hemp Hydrating Cleanser last year which went horribly wrong. “I tripled the regular product order and the texture was completely different,” she explains. “I did not feel good dumping ten bathtubs worth of product into landfill, which is when I had this idea to rework the batch and make it into a body wash.” KraveBeauty repurposed more than US$1.5m in retail value of unsaleable product waste into around 20,000 units of a limited edition Matcha Hemp Body Wash instead. “We sold it pretty much at cost – [$8 to cover the cost of product, packaging, compliance, safety testing, freight and fulfilment] – and broke even,” says Yoo. “The lesson learned is that when creating new products, it is hard to predict the quality of the batch in terms of mass scale production because
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We have trained the consumer to expect and look for innovation because we keep on churning out new things
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