A strong certification policy to obtain sustainable cosmetics
At Croda, sustainability spans every area of our business and is a crucial way we add value to our customers.
Croda acts on its commitment to sustainability through its purpose, “Smart science to improve lives™”. By 2030, Croda aims to become Climate, Land and People Positive and the most sustainable supplier of innovative ingredients.
As part of Croda’s beauty actives division, Sederma, Crodarom and Alban Muller actively support the achievement of Croda's sustainability objectives. Through our sustainability strategy named “Be ACTIVEly Committed”, we constantly improve our practices to develop and produce innovative and sustainable cosmetic bioactive ingredients.
How to Be ACTIVEly Committed to sustainable cosmetics
Developing sustainable cosmetic active ingredients requires a comprehensive sustainability strategy that takes into account the entire lifecycle of the product, from sourcing raw materials to the production, marketing and shipping of the cosmetic active ingredient. Since 2015, Sederma has used the ISO26000 standard as a ance to enssure coherence between our management systems and sustainability strategy “Be ACTIVEly Committed”.
Based on three pillars Business, People and Planet the “Be ACTIVEly Committed”sustainabilitystrategy addresses:
- Under Business, the concepts related to fair practices and consumer issues.
- In the People axis, commitments related to human rights, safety of workers and local development.
- Finally, the Planet axis includes all the items related to the environment.
Be ACTIVEly committed to business: a sustainable strategy valided by third party
Certified ISO14001, ISO45001, ISO9001 and EFfCI‘s Cosmetic Ingredient Good Manufacturing Practice for years, Sederma, Crodarom and Alban Muller have been engaged in a strong certification policy for decades now to formalise their management and commitment related to safety, quality and the environment. With this third-party control done by internationally recognised certification organisations, we take more than 20 audits per year including internal group and customer audits.
Be ACTIVEly committed to People: sourcing with respect
At Croda, we know that the capacity to innovate and develop eco-socio-designed ingredients depends on biodiversity and its conservation.
Traceability of raw materials of natural origin is at the heart of Sederma’s development strategy for sustainable business. Since 2020, Sederma is a member of the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT), a non-profit association that promotes sourcing with respect.
As part of UEBT membership, Sederma commits to ensuring that our sourcing practices gradually advance sustainable business growth, local development and biodiversity conservation.
A concrete example of the work done to ensure respectful sourcing practices is Feminage™. This product which helps menopausal women to fight against glycation and oxidative stress is obtained from Engelhardtia chrysolepis leaves found inChina. A UEBT diagnosis has established knowledge of strengths and weaknesses of the supply chain and an action plan has been implemented to carry out improvements. For example, personal protective equipments have been financed to ensure health and safety on the cultivation sites.
The continuous implementation of ethical sourcing requirements in its Biodiversity Management System, the annual review of its “Sustainable botanical supply chain” and the deployment of best practices about Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) in accordance with local ABS regulations contribute to ensure respectful sourcing practices all along Sederma’s supply-chain.
Since 2021, 100 % of Sederma’s natural supply chains
for new catalogue products have been sourced according to
Sederma’s Biodiversity Management System.
Be ACTIVEly committed to the Planet: RSPO
Palm oil is found in 70% of the world’s personal care products, according to WWF. It is a hot topic in the Personal Care industry as many brands search for alternatives due to concerns about deforestation. Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is a global standard to ensure the credibility of palm oil sustainability claims. Sederma does not directly buy palm oil and uses a limited number of palm oil derivatives. Suppliers’ selection is done regarding their commitment to sustainable development. They are often members of recognised voluntary programmes such as RSPO.Sederma’s catalogue offers several Mass Balance certified products.
How to assess the relevance of a CSR approach? Labels, standards and product certifications.
To guarantee traceability and transparency of our product’s supply chain, Sederma constantly seeks relevant tools to assess the maturity of its practices and improve its environmental performance .
In collaboration with the France Eco-Extraction association, Crodarom and Sederma participated in the steering committee to create a label management tool named ERI 360.
Through more than 100 SMART indicators (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Recognised and Transparent), the entire ingredient production chain is evaluated to identify and control the impacts both in the choice of the raw materials and the suppliers, and in the technology used to manufacture the ingredient.
You can learn more about the ERI 360 label on the dedicated website and discover our Sederma product range that has been granted with a silver label here: Majestem®, Citystem®, Amberstem™, Senestem®, Rubistem™.
Brand transparency about products naturality: a key consumers requirement.
To answer consumer’s demand for more transparency about product’s naturality, we use ISO 26128 standard guidelines to measure the natural content and natural origin content of our products. In 2020, these calculations have been made for all our products and more than 66 % of Sederma’s catalogue has a derived natural content superior to 80%. In addition to ISO 26128, ISO TR 22582 and ISO TR 23199 are respectively used to give details on the concentration of extracts and on hydrolates.
With more than 56,000 cosmetic product references in its database, COSMOS-standard is now a reference for beauty consumers who are looking for natural or organic cosmetics.
Sederma, Crodarom and Alban Muller offer a wide range of COSMOS approved or certified ingredients. Download our Cosmos guide available on this page to discover our COSMOS approved and COSMOS certified products!
In conclusion, developing sustainable cosmetic active ingredients requires a holistic approach that takes into account the entire lifecycle of the product. Through its sustainable strategy “Be ACTIVEly Committed” , Sederma as well as Crodarom and Alban Muller market eco- (socio-) designed products. Our strong certification policy is a guarantee of our sustainable practices in the sourcing of raw materials, use of eco-designed processes…. As an actor of the beauty industry, Croda’s beauty actives division puts into action a global strategy to make a positive contribution to the environment and to society.
To learn more about sustainability at Sederma, Crodarom and Alban Muller, download our beauty actives sustainability brochure.
