Alternativbild

Sustainable skincare care products

Partnering to create more sustainable skincare care products

In Dialogue

Friday, December 15, 2023, 8 a.m.: Beiersdorf Campus, Hamburg (Germany)

Today, Julia Beier, Dr. Ingo Hahn, Julia Niedermeier, Urte Koop, and Dr. Manuela Köhler from Beiersdorf are meeting with Peter Becker, Dr. Achim Friedrich, and Jörg Prante from Evonik at Beiersdorf’s research center in Hamburg (Germany). The agenda for today’s meeting is portfolio transformation as both companies move towards greater sustainability. In fact, it is one of the topics that they regularly address—together with further participants—at Beiersdorf’s Sustainability Campus.

Alternativbild

In the podcast

Julia Beier from Beiersdorf meets with Peter Becker, from Evonik at Beiersdorf’s research center in Hamburg (Germany). The agenda for today’s meeting is portfolio transformation as both companies move towards greater sustainability. In fact, it is one of the topics that they regularly address—together with further participants—at Beiersdorf’s Sustainability Campus.

Alternativbild
Peter Becker and Julia Beier in the podcast.

In the videos

Julia Beier, Dr. Ingo Hahn, Julia Niedermeier, Urte Koop, and Dr. Manuela Köhler from Beiersdorf are meeting with Peter Becker, Dr. Achim Friedrich, and Jörg Prante from Evonik at Beiersdorf’s research center in Hamburg (Germany). The agenda for today’s meeting is portfolio transformation as both companies move towards greater sustainability. In fact, it is one of the topics that they regularly address—together with further participants—at Beiersdorf’s Sustainability Campus.

Urte Koop (Beiersdorf) about “Sustainability as a matter of heart” for Beiersdorf.

"For us at Beiersdorf, sustainability is a key priority of corporate strategy. Our CARE BEYOND SKIN Sustainability Agenda defines our responsibility to our customers, society, and the environment. We are aware that we have a long journey ahead to transform our company and value chain, but we are optimistic that we can achieve our ambitious targets and play a pioneering role in the transformation of the cosmetics industry."

Urte Koop (Principal Scientist Sustainability)

Dr. Ingo Hahn (Beiersdorf) about the cooperation between Evonik an Beiersdorf.

"The long-standing partnership between Beiersdorf and Evonik is based on trust and shared sustainability goals. We have developed a common understanding of sustainable raw materials and have used it to define sustainable product indices (SPIs). That makes us quick and effective when we validate new, more sustainable raw materials. That is an important precondition for transforming Beiersdorf’s product portfolio. Our cooperation is helping us to come up with more sustainable solutions so we can achieve our climate target as soon as possible."

Dr. Ingo Hahn (Manager Raw Materials Portfolio)

Jörg Prante (Evonik) about the long lasting and trustful cooperation between Beiersdorf and Evonik.

"Beiersdorf and Evonik work together closely together in the area of sustainability. Both companies have set clear goals for sustainable formulations and the related raw materials. Evonik helps Beiersdorf develop sustainable solutions and solve joint problems such as the complete reworking of formulations and formulation platforms and the implementation of sustainability targets along the entire value chain. Sustainability is becoming increasingly important for the business relationship between Evonik and Beiersdorf, because sustainability criteria are a source of additional value, which is also reflected in the value chain."

Jörg Prante (Business Director Central Europe)

Peter Becker (Evonik) about the Beiersdorf Campus initiative.

"Evonik’s Care Solutions business line works closely with Beiersdorf to implement sustainability and transform the portfolio. The two companies set up the Sustainability Campus to address sustainability at product level and quantify its effects. The campus allows the companies to collaborate across functions. We are taking joint steps towards innovative skincare products that are more sustainable. Sustainable procurement of raw materials is important to us because we have a responsibility to the environment and society and want to make sure that our procurement chains are as sustainable as possible."

Peter Becker (Senior Sustainability Manager)

Julia Beier (Beiersdorf) about the Responsible Sourcing Program at Beiersdorf.

"Our sustainability team is working with all functions and our suppliers to implement our CARE BEYOND SKIN sustainability agenda. This includes our "Responsible Sourcing" program, with which we pursue goals such as the use of renewable and sustainably certified raw materials and packaging materials. Since the end of 2020, we have been using 100% sustainably certified palm (kernel) oil-based raw materials (according to RSPO) and 100% FSC-certified paper for our primary packaging. We are also involved along the supply chain: With Evonik, we are supporting WWF Germany in two palm oil projects in Indonesia and Malaysia with the aim of stopping deforestation and training smallholders in the sustainable cultivation of palm oil and certifying them according to RSPO."

Julia Beier (Sustainability Manager Responsible Sourcing)

Dr. Manuela Köhler (Beiersdorf) about evaluating of feedstocks and the Kopernikus project.

"As Chief Scientist Feedstock & Formula Science at Beiersdorf, I develop the feedstock strategy for our cosmetic raw materials and help put it into practice. In the selection of raw materials, not only safety, tolerability, performance and formulating properties play a central role, also sustainability. Identifying optimal raw materials, in other words, materials that have a good safety and performance profile yet are eco-friendly in the long term, is the daily focus of our R&D team. One specific project we have been working on together with Evonik is the Kopernikus project. As part of the Power to X subproject, we worked on the CCU technology (carbon dioxide capture and utilization) to produce cosmetic and other chemical raw materials from CO2. It’s a very exciting field. We collaborate in interdisciplinary teams with experts from Beiersdorf and Evonik to achieve the best results."

Dr. Manuela Köhler (Chief Scientist Feedstock & Formula Science)

Dr. Achim Friedrich (Evonik) about the change to more sustainable raw materials.

"Fossil-based resources are widely used in the cosmetic industry because they are safe and readily available.However, their negative image and their role in the climate debate drive companies like Beiersdorf to transition to a more sustainable product product portfolio by reformulating their products. That is a real challenge because the product properties, especially what they feel like, must be preserved. Evonik has been developing sustainable raw materials for years and we work closely with Beiersdorf to provide a range of sustainable raw materials for their reformulation efforts. This collaboration benefits consumers as well as both companies because it accelerates the transition to more sustainable products, which in turn helps protect the environment and reduce their carbon footprints."

Dr. Achim Friedrich (Global Head of Applied Innovation Skin Care)

Julia Niedermeier (Beiersdorf) about the meaning of sustainability in procurement.

"Sustainability in procurement means taking a new approach. For us, it means diving far deeper into our supply chains, as well as questioning and optimizing our processes and procurement structures constantly with regard to sustainability. Next to respecting human rights and meeting social standards, the development and purchasing of sustainable raw materials are central tasks for us. We aspire to integrate our entire value chain into our transformation and, at the same time, maintain our high quality standards, safeguard the availability of supply, and ensure a competitive cost structure. We want to actively drive the transformation of our industry and for that, we need strong partnerships like the one between Beiersdorf and Evonik."

Julia Niedermeier (Head of Procurement Raw Materials

Sourcing)