We caught up with the director-general at the European industry trade association Cosmetics Europe, John Chave, to discuss rapidly changing regulations, sustainability, urban wastewater and other important topics for the cosmetics industry in 2025 and beyond…
CosmeticsDesign-Europe (CDE): What were the key issues for the beauty and personal care industry in Europe in 2024? And how do you expect these to evolve this year?
JC: In 2024, the European cosmetics industry continued to face multiple regulatory challenges stemming from the European Green Deal, impacting the sector in many different ways.
The key legislative files we focused on were:
• Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD)
• Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)
• Classification, Labelling, and Packaging (CLP)
• Green Claims Directive (GCD)
• One Substance One Assessment (OSOA) package, in particular the Common Data Platform for Chemicals Regulation
• Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR)
• Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD)
A key aspect of our work in 2025 will be secondary legislations deriving from these initiatives and/or their implementation at national level, particularly the extremely challenging UWWTD.
In 2025, we will also see new proposed legislation on chemicals, including the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulation. REACH is increasingly important for our sector – we note now that more possible restrictions on cosmetic ingredients may come to us via REACH, and we think this is a tendency which is likely to increase.
More positively, we will hope to see significant steps forward on the shift towards non-animal methods for chemicals assessment under the new REACH proposal.
Finally in 2025, the European Commission will launch its ‘refit’ process for the Cosmetic Product Regulation (CPR) – the original proposal on CPR, incorporating European Green Deal elements never having seen the light of day.
Obviously, we will be working to ensure that any changes to the legislation continue to put consumer safety front and centre, without however placing excessive regulatory burdens on our industry.
CDE: What else is on your agenda for 2025?
JC: In 2025, it will be more important than ever to ensure that the value of the cosmetics and personal care products, as well as of our industry, is appreciated by old and new EU policymakers.
In fact, we are developing a series of activities to present the sector to policymakers with the aim of ensuring that the contribution of our products to daily life, and to consumers’ physical and mental wellbeing, is better understood. The first milestone happened last week. We launched the Beyond the Surface Portrait Exhibition at the European Parliament.
The exhibition ran from 13th to 16th January and showcased the stories of 11 individuals – from a young mother to a cancer survivor, a dermatologist, a dancer, a hairdresser and more. They all shared their personal relationships and experiences with cosmetics and personal care products and talk about the impact these have had on their lives. Find more information on the campaign, here.
CDE: In 2024 there were concerns about cosmetics regulations potentially taking an increased hazard-based approach. Is this still a concern?
JC: Yes, it’s a significant concern – one example is the increasing number of ingredients being posed for harmonised hazard classification under the CLP legislation. We have seen recently that more and more chemicals widely used in cosmetics are being considered for classification as carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic (CMR) substances, including p-cymene, a natural ingredient, and even ethanol. The current regulatory framework may lead to these ingredients being automatically banned even if on an exposure basis they are safe for consumers. This is a big worry.
CDE: Sustainability is still a big focus for the industry. Do you have any thoughts or advice for beauty companies on this topic?
JC: Our industry continues to make significant progress in the sustainability area, for example, with our voluntary initiative Commit for Our Planet.
In fact, Commit for Our Planet has been recognised by the European Commission as an initiative that supports the co-implementation of the Transition Pathway for the Chemical industry. The Transition Pathway for the Chemical industry is an actionable plan co-developed by the European Commission with EU countries, chemical industry stakeholder, NGOs and other interested parties. It identifies actions and conditions needed for the chemicals industry to achieve the green and digital transition.
The sustainability journey is necessary but not always straightforward – one challenge that we have for example, in common with other industries, is sourcing sufficient quantities of recycled packaging. In fact, recycled packaging for cosmetic products will be a topic covered at the Cosmetics Europe Annual Conference 2025.
I don’t believe companies in any sector can become paragons of sustainability on every measure overnight, but the key thing is to keep progressing, keep investing, keep innovating – I see many positive signs in this respect. Our industry is well on the way.
Last but not least, another key topic that will be in focus for us this year and beyond will be water resilience and water quality.