The global demand for sustainable cosmetics is rising, with the natural and organic beauty market projected to reach $54.5 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 9.76% from 2022 to 2027, according to market research firm Statista. At the same time, sustainability certifications are gaining traction—nearly 50% of beauty consumers now look for third-party verified claims like organic, vegan, or climate-neutral before making a purchase, as reported by The NPD Group.
Against this backdrop, the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit – North America Edition returns to New York City on June 5-6, 2025, bringing together manufacturers, suppliers, and industry leaders to explore green materials, sustainability schemes, and emerging trends like AI and biotechnology.
Organized by Ecovia Intelligence, the event will examine how these innovations are shaping the future of cosmetics while tackling key challenges such as ingredient sourcing, circular packaging, and greenwashing.
To gain deeper insights, CosmeticsDesign spoke with Amarjit Sahota, founder of Ecovia Intelligence, about what to expect from this year’s summit and how the industry can accelerate its shift toward sustainability.
CDU: What inspired this year’s theme and focus for the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit?
Amarjit Sahota (AS): This year, we are focusing on green materials, sustainability schemes, and future trends. Green ingredients continue to play an important role in advancing sustainability in the cosmetics industry.
We will look at how new technologies like biotechnology and AI are creating sustainable ingredients.
We decided to cover sustainability schemes since our research shows a growing number of third-party sustainability standards and labels for cosmetic & personal care products. Apart from natural and organic (the most established), we are seeing more products with climate-neutral, vegan, and related labels like EWG Verified and Made Safe.
In the Future Trends session, we will discuss the trends that are poised to further sustainability in the cosmetics industry. Apart from AI (which is expected to have a major impact on cosmetic formulations and marketing), we are covering cultured ingredients (made using cellular agriculture), and new methods to produce plant-based ingredients: regenerative agriculture and vertical farming.
We are also covering new packaging materials for cosmetics & personal care products.
CDU: How has the summit evolved over the years in addressing sustainability challenges in the cosmetics industry?
AS: The agenda of the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit has evolved considerably since the first edition in 2009. In the first few editions, green materials referred to plant-based/natural raw materials as opposed to synthetic chemicals.
Over the last 10 years, there has been considerable investment in green raw materials. Now, green materials refer to ingredients that have a higher sustainability profile than conventional ingredients.
This could be in terms of feedstock (agricultural-based or bio-based feedstock), synthesis (processing techniques), upcycling (valorization of waste materials), and/or new technologies like stem cell technology, precision fermentation, etc.
There are also greater discussions on impacts, whether it is carbon footprint / net zero, resource use, ethical sourcing & biodiversity, social sustainability, as well as packaging impacts. Marketing issues are also more prominent, especially since brands are marketing their products on various green features, e.g., active ingredients, free-from claims, labels, packaging, refillable, etc.
CDU: The agenda mentions AI and biotechnology as emerging technologies. How do you see these shaping the future of sustainable cosmetics?
AS: AI is having a major influence on the cosmetics industry. Brands are looking at AI to help them select ingredients and re-formulate their products.
AI is also used for market research for NPD (developing new products), marketing, and communications. Companies like Haut.AI are developing software like SkinGPT, whilst research agencies are using AI to analyze data and guide brands with marketing decisions.
Biotechnology is expected to play an important role in developing natural raw materials for cosmetic formulations. The move to green raw materials has raised questions about land use: As the global population continues to rise and is expected to reach 9 billion by 2037, there are concerns that land will be used to grow crops for cosmetics and not for food.
The growing use of plant-based raw materials should not lead to food insecurity. Biotechnology, such as plant cell technology, enables active ingredients to be grown in refineries with agricultural land. Precision fermentation and fermentation techniques enable ingredients like collagen to be created from plant sources in the lab.
New technologies, therefore, will play an important role in creating sustainable ingredients for the cosmetics industry.
CDU: How do you think this year’s summit will influence industry stakeholders’ strategies for integrating sustainability?
AS: We want to highlight the major trends and opportunities with green materials and sustainability schemes for stakeholders. Green materials play an important role in reducing the environmental impact of cosmetic & personal care products.
Sustainability schemes are important as they help brands and ingredient firms move towards green(er) products. They are also very important in marketing; by adopting third-party sustainability schemes like Natrue, RSPO, and Climate Neautral, brands can legitimize their green marketing claims.
CDU: What role does collaboration play in overcoming challenges like greenwashing and implementing circular systems?
AS: Collaboration does play an important role. In the previous editions of the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit, we have highlighted the importance of collaboration by giving a platform to the EcoBeautyScore Consortium and Pact Collective.
Both initiatives have involved brands working together for a common goal e.g. the aim of the Pact Collective to address the issue of beauty and wellness packaging waste by uniting brands to take collective responsibility for packaging waste through innovative collection programs and educational resources.
CDU: What are your thoughts on the potential for holistic sustainability schemes to address the growing fragmentation in the industry?
AS: Unfortunately, we have not seen any schemes that cover the various parts of sustainability in the beauty industry. One of the reasons is that sustainability has many threads, encompassing environmental aspects like carbon footprint, water use, energy, waste management, biodiversity, packaging impacts, to social aspects like ethical sourcing and CSR.
There are also economic aspects and ethical aspects that cover animal-testing, veganism, and human health. It is, therefore, becoming common for sustainability schemes that focus on specific aspects, e.g., RSPO for sustainable sourcing of palm oil, carbon footprint labels, organic certification, vegan labels, fair trade, etc.
CDU: Looking ahead, what new sustainability trends do you anticipate will emerge in the next few years?
AS: We see there to be more sustainability standards and labeling schemes, as well as charters and roundtables. A trend is that these schemes are being developed for single ingredients, e.g., sustainable palm oil, sugar, coconut oil, mica, guar, etc.
There will also be more of a growing palette of green ingredients. Already, we are seeing companies that have silicones and polymers moving to bio-based feedstock.
At the consumer level, expect to see new product formats. In recent years, refillables have made a comeback for skin care products. There are new product formats like waterless shampoos and moisturizer bars, as well as new refillable deodorants, etc.
CDU: As the founder of Ecovia Intelligence, what drives your passion for sustainability in cosmetics, and how do you see your role in shaping the industry’s future?
AS: Since Ecovia Intelligence was formed in 2001, the mission has been to encourage sustainable development in the food, cosmetic & related industries via our business services.
We have been hosting the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit since 2009; for 17 years, the summit aims to inspire positive change in the beauty industry by highlighting sustainability developments and identifying business opportunities and networks. As the founder of Ecovia Intelligence, my role is to help facilitate this positive change.
For more details or to register for the upcoming Summit, please visit the organization’s website.
