Garnier Green Beauty is an initiative by Garnier India with an aim to shift the way the beauty industry operates and as a mass beauty brand, it is well poised to impact a tangible change. The aim is to transform every stage of Garnier’s value chain, reducing or eradicating environmental impact in the following areas: Plastic & Packaging (Zero-virgin plastic by 2025), Product & Formula, Factories& Manufacturing, and Solidarity Sourcing. We will share specific targets & initiatives on each of these aspects.
By this initiative the company wants to bethe first brand to implement Product Environmental & Social Impact Labelling tool. This aims to inform consumers on the environmental & social impact of their products and give each product a sustainability score, from A to E, thus empowering them to make more sustainable choices. In India Garnierplans to make its products in India more sustainable, be it through renewable raw materials, biodegradability of formula or packaging innovations. The partnership ‘Plastics for Change’ is to support the holistic development of waste picker communities in India. The partnership supports education for children, healthcare, nutrition, financial literacy and empowerment for girls & women – the basic foundations of a healthy and happy community
Zeenia Bastani, General Manager, Garnier India in an exclusive chat with Medianews4U, she underlines the initiatives by Garnier, to be more environment friendly and to start a Green Tribe in India.
‘Green Beauty’, can you elaborate?
Green Beauty is our end to end approach to sustainability. It is our set of commitments towards the planet that aim to transform each stage in our value chain to eradicate or reduce environmental impact. More responsible sourcing, cleaner and greener formulae, more recycled and recyclable packaging, more renewable energies and at the final stage of the value chain, more actions to fight plastic pollution. Garnier is also certified by Cruelty Free International under the Leaping Bunny Program which assures consumers that our products are completely cruelty free and devoid of animal testing across our supply chain. At Garnier, we commit to “take care” of our consumers and our planet.
You are talking about making the products more sustainable, especially in India. How will you go about doing it?
We, at Garnier, have been committed to environmental sustainability for years; producing more natural formulas, using sustainable and fair-trade ingredients, being the first to bring certified organic products to the mass skincare market. But we wanted to take our commitment further and realized that as one of the world’s leading mass-market natural beauty brands it was up to us to lead the change. That was where the idea of Green Beauty came to us, to create a positive, sustainable impact across our entire value chain and make sustainable beauty accessible to everyone.
With Garnier Green Beauty, we want to shift the way the beauty industry operates. This initiative is a complete end to end approach to sustainability with an aim to achieve the following targets
Plastic & Packaging:
o By 2025, Garnier will aim to use Zero Virgin Plastic in all packaging, saving 37,000 tonnes of plastic every year*
o By 2025, all packaging will also be either reusable, recyclable or compostable
Product & Formula:
o By 2022, all plant-based and renewable ingredients will be sustainably sourced
o By 2025, 100% of Garnier’s new products will have an improved environmental profile
Factories & Manufacturing:
o 100% Carbon Neutral industrial sites by 2025, using renewable energy
o CO2 emissions of industrial sites already reduced by 72%**
Solidarity Sourcing:
o By 2025, Garnier will have empowered 800 communities worldwide as part of our Solidarity sourcing programme
In addition, Garnier has partnered with Plastics For Change to help with the social impact of plastic pollution. Over 3 billion people around the world live without access to organised waste collection. That’s almost half the planet’s population. Some of the world’s poorest people collect this waste to make a living. The waste pickers many of them women, often live below the poverty line and work in appalling conditions. Through this association, Garnier will support the holistic development of waste picker communities in India. Plastics for Change support education for children, healthcare, nutrition, financial literacy and empowerment for girls & women – the basic foundations of a healthy and happy community.
Many companies are initiating such changes, how different is this going to be?
Today, more than ever, environmental, health and social concerns are of the upmost importance, especially looking at how the events transpired in the past year. Consumer expectation has been shifting and the focus on the role of brands is coming into play. Above anything else, people want brands that they can trust, that are transparent and which are genuinely committed to being better. If many brands and companies are coming forward to make changes to their products it is excellent news for all of us – because it is excellent news for the planet.
Garnier is different in that we are not looking only at the impact of our products, but also the entire value chain. We are driving sustainability across every aspect of our product – from sourcing to production to consumer awareness.
In fact we have made significant headway in India already. Our 2 factories in India will be carbon neutral by end of 2021 itself. In India, we collect back and recycle 100% of the weight of plastic that we put out into the market and 95% of our newly launched formulae for 2020 and 2021 have an improved environmental profile.
Garnier will go a step further in complete transparency of our commitments. We will be the first brand to implement Product Environmental & Social Impact Labelling which will empower the consumer to make a more sustainable choice of her products. Being trialed on Haircare products in France, this labelling gives each product a sustainability score, from A to E, with products labelled ‘A’ considered best in class. The score takes into account 14 environmental factors from sourcing, manufacture, transportation, usage and recyclability. Data is verified by Bureau Veritas Certification, an independent auditor. This will be rolled out in India soon.
Most importantly, Garnier will not just claim to change. As part of the Green Beauty initiative, we launch the Sustainability Progress Report which openly and transparently shares our trackable roadmap and our progress on each commitment. This report is audited by a third party auditor Price Waterhouse Cooper.
You say no plastic; will the product packaging not differ?
At Garnier, by 2025, we commit to 100% of our packaging being recyclable, reusable or compostable. This means we commit to ZERO virgin plastic.
In 2019, we saved 3670 tonnes of virgin plastic and by 2025 Garnier aims to save 37,000 tonnes of plastic globally, by using zero virgin plastic.
We have assessed all our Garnier products, current and future innovations, to see how they can be improved from a sustainability perspective. Working closely with our packaging suppliers and plastic manufacturers, we are developing robust sources of supply for PCR, aiming to reach 100% by 2025.
How will you market this initiative?
The Garnier Green Beauty initiative is our journey towards contributing to a better and more sustainable planet, while also creating a community of our consumers and supporters who can take this journey with us. We have put together a group of sustainability warriors called The Garnier Green Tribe which is led by our brand ambassador John Abraham who will drive this advocacy for us through social media conversations.
Plastics for change partnership – tell us what this initiative means for the waste picking community in India?
Most of the waste pickers in India are women and live and work in extremely poor conditions. Through the partnership with Plastics For Change, we want to help with the social impact of plastic pollution. Garnier will support the holistic development of waste picker communities in India. Plastics for Change support education for children, healthcare, nutrition, financial literacy and empowerment for girls & women – the basic foundations of a healthy and happy community.
Creation of a Green Tribe…way forward on this?
The Green Tribe is a group of sustainability warriors from different walks of life coming together to build conversations and educate people on what the Garnier Green Beauty initiative aims to do. The Green Tribe will be led by our brand ambassador, John Abraham, and will encourage their circle of influence to take up one green step that helps make a difference, however small.
Garnier India Focus in 2021?
Our focus for 2021 will continue to be bringing new innovation, new formats, new gestures and the latest in technology into our beauty solutions, but with accessible price points.
