New research suggests consumers may feel a bit defeated about society’s ability to “save the planet.”

Mintel’s flagship “Global Outlook on Sustainability” report shows a 10 point decline in the number of US consumers who agree with the following statement: “If we act now, we still have time to save the planet.” Globally, the number dropped seven percentage points from 55% in 2021 to 48% in 2024, according to Mintel.

What’s more, there has been decline in the number of consumers globally who believe their own actions can make a positive difference to the environment, slipping from 51% in 2021 to 47% in 2024.

The numbers do not bode well for brands pushing ahead with projects and partnerships to curb the impact their products and processes have on Mother Earth. 

“Whilst consumers are increasingly exposed to, and worried about, climate change, we’re seeing three major challenges for brands: people have a diminished sense of impact, don’t trust companies’ claims and are deprioritizing sustainability in their purchasing considerations. Growing understanding of the scale of the challenge and recognition of greenwashing is playing a role here, with 42% of consumers saying that activism has raised their awareness of environmental issues,” Richard Cope, a senior trends consultant at Mintel, told Happi. 

But consumer fatigue does not matter, according to Cope.

“This shouldn’t be a consumer-led issue,” he asserted. “Brands should be smart and forward thinking enough to know that they need to invest to secure resilient and sustainable supply chains, enjoy greater efficiencies and dodge punitive legislation, but the reward is that consumers will be loyal to more responsible brands.”

Beauty and personal care (BPC) customers aren’t waving the white flag on green issues.

“It’s important to assert that people still care” and, after climate change itself, engaged BPC consumers cite air quality (38%), water shortages (34%) and plastic pollution (32%) amongst their top three concerns,” said Cope

According to Mintel, 39% of engaged BPC consumers believe that buying goods made from recycled materials is one of the top three ways that they can reduce their impact on the environment. And they value ethical sourcing as well, and are buying into this concept—literally—more than others.  

According to Mintel, 33% purchased products certified to be less harmful to the environment, significantly higher than 22% for the population as a whole, and 29% bought products certified to protect workers or pay fair wages, up from 18% for the average consumer. 

New Developments

From the largest multinationals to startups, beauty and personal care brands are forging new partnerships and incorporating more sustainable ingredients into their finished products. Suppliers have been building a more robust tool kit for today’s cosmetic chemists who must develop products that meet corporate ESG benchmarks, marketing goals and consumers’ desires for efficacy and aesthetics.

In August, Unilever launched a pilot program with the University of Nottingham to explore how it can use biotech to extract essential oils from plants and flowers that would otherwise go to waste and use them to fragrance finished products. The accord follows others, including Unilever’s existing joint venture with Geno (biotech alternatives to palm oil and fossil fuel-derived cleansing ingredients). Products like Dove Intensive Repair Shampoo and Conditioner are formulated with biotech-derived vegan proteins like collagen and elastin and Unilever’s REN has swapped out natural bisabolol (traditionally extracted from wild chamomile) for a fermented alternative in its Evercalm Barrier Support Elixir. 

Got (Bio) Milk? 

Beekman 1802 recently debuted a vegan bio-milk in its Shine-Free range, a skin care line that is tailored toward Gen Z.

Beekman 1802 enlisted a team of more than 20 chemists and scientists (including Croda and Sederma) as well as testing labs in California to successfully “reverse engineer” its signature goat milk into a 100% vegan form. 

This is not to say Beekman’s goat milk isn’t kind to the planet—after all, kindness is what the brand has long espoused.

“At Beekman 1802, sustainability and ethical sourcing aren’t just goals—they’re our brand DNA or ‘Kindness Pillars’ as we call them,” said Ayesha Bshero, head of product development. “We avoid mineral oils and petroleum-based ingredients…choosing instead to innovate with fermented and biotech-driven ingredients that help strengthen the skin barrier and balance the microbiome.”

Beekman’s goat milk is sourced from more than 25 Certified Humane family farms.

“It guarantees top-tier quality while supporting local farmers and their livelihoods. This isn’t just a supply chain—it’s our Kindness Pillars in action, honoring animals and the planet,” Bshero asserted. 

Beekman 1802 Milk RX Better Aging Cream contains Renexosome complex, which features an advanced biomimetic peptide; Oh Mega Milk Facial Oil features Fermentoil, a biotech discovery from oil spill cleanups in Korea that delivers superior omega fatty acids with a reduced environmental footprint; and Beekman’s Biomilk Foaming Cleanser uses pineapple ceramides made from fiber—not juice—which Bshero says showcases Beekman’s whole-ingredient commitment.

“These breakthroughs are at the core of our sustainable vision, helping us create effective products while keeping our environmental impact to a minimum,” Bshero told Happi.

Eos continues to develop a more sustainable supply chain. Now in year five of its ongoing commitment to support shea harvesting communities in Ghana, Eos expanded the Shea Better Sustainability Program and support of the women shea harvesters in Northern Ghana with income-diversification opportunities—shea soap-making and beekeeping.

Eos now has a plant-based vegan lip salve that includes upcycled olive squalene. “While we’ve always prioritized sustainably sourced ingredients like shea butter, the olive squalane is our first upcycled component,” noted Jamie Sachs, VP, product marketing and customer innovation at Eos. “Naturality and quality sourcing has always been integral to Eos’ DNA, and with our new Vegan Lip Salves, we’re excited to be telling a powerful plant-based sustainability story.”  

For insight from some of the category’s leading ingredient experts, click here.

Performance & Planet

“The beauty industry already recognizes the impact of our production at end of life—it’s visible in our oceans and landfills with the packaging. However, little robust analysis or study has been done on a critical portion of our cradle-to-grave impact: our ingredient supply chain,” Taylor Oswald, director of ingredient and product innovation at Deinde, told Happi. “A formulation can have dozens of ingredients, each of which individually has a footprint that can span continents, as multiple countries are used to cultivate, and another country entirely is used to process. The freight, packaging, water/land and human resources used in this system are extensive, let alone risk biodiversity and deforestation as demand rises. We, as a brand, believe that improving the future, whether of your skin or of the planet, starts today—and we wanted to prove that improvements are possible not only with no compromise, but even better performance for consumers.”

Deinde offers formulations that are 95% bio-based, “sourcing whenever available biotech or upcycled solutions vs. plant-cultivated, advancing away from petroleum-based manufacturing and high-carbon footprint plant cultivation and extraction,” asserted Oswald.

The brand’s ingredients include Naringenin, which is made using its proprietary biotech process, and upcycled date seed extract. 

Along with Naringenin being produced with 99% less land and water than if extracted through harvesting, Deinde’s polysaccharides are made through a “blue biotechnology manufacturing process that replicates their production found in the French Polynesian atolls, without disrupting the biodiversity and produced locally to support the local economy,” according to Oswald.

Biotech and fermentation offer benefits for formula performance and the planet.

“More ethically-sourced, 100% ‘natural’ and plant-derived products are a great alternative to fossil fuel-derived materials. But it’s worth noting that plant materials are susceptible to natural elements and often require the use of pesticides. Factors like rain, sun, wind and soil all affect how much of an active ingredient is available in a plant. When you use 5% of an extract, you can’t be 100% confident how much of an active ingredient you get. It’ll vary every time,” said Oswald.

According to Oswald, 1kg of plant-derived naringenin would require more than 3,500 grapefruits, an acre of land, 38,000 gallons of water and a year to produce. Biotech-derived naringenin keeps those grapefruits in food supply chain.

“Biotech lets us produce isolated active ingredients with optimal consistency and purity—and at precise dosing levels, so we know we’re delivering the clinically proven value for optimized results.  These ingredients also create less harm to the planet and preserve precious natural resources for more critical needs,” Oswald added.

Primally Pure includes whole flower regenerative biodynamic hemp in its Regenerative Hemp serum and mask products. The brand is working with Onda, which uses a proprietary infusion process which is said to remove the risk of chemical contamination from residual butane or CO2.

“Onda not only adheres to biodynamic and regenerative farming practices, but they utilize artisanal processing and gentle infusion methods to ensure minimal disruption to the delicate compounds and honor the full expression of the plant profile,” noted Courtney O’Connor, Primally Pure’s holistic esthetician.

“Ethical farming practices are integral to Primally Pure’s mission and have been a foundational aspect of attracting an aligned community over the past decade,” said O’Connor, noting that the brand’s founder, Bethany McDaniel, began making skin care using grass-fed tallow from her family’s farm. 

“Soil is the ‘skin’ of the earth,” O’Connor said. “Like skin, when soil is degraded, it must be restored before sustainability is an appropriate goal. Regenerative agriculture heals the soil and, in turn, produces more nutrient-dense products.”

Unilever wants to expand its regenerative agriculture practices. It has 25 regenerative agriculture projects in progress covering almost 350,000 hectares today and has a goal to reach 1 million hectares by 2030. Its nutrition business is spearheading the effort.

In September, Beiersdorf and L’Oréal announced separate accords. Beiersdorf and Macro Biologics entered a multi-year partnership to develop biodegradable antimicrobial peptides. L’Oréal announced a tri-party agreement with Abolis Biotechnologies and Evonik.

From Tree Tops to Fish Guts

Korres is upcycling a new portion of a brand-favorite conifer. For its new products that debuted last month—Black Pine Primus 6HA Wrinkle-Smooth Youth Activator and Black Pine Primus Elasticity Boost Day Cream—Korres has sourced material from the bud of the black pine via a sustainable extraction method that utilizes green technologies.

The bud extract comes from young, blossomed stems of the tree, which blooms annually from April to June. Under the guidance of the Directorate of Forests of Grevena, Korres upcycles by-products of timber production from black pine growing in the Pindus Mountains, ensuring that parts of the tree that would otherwise be discarded are put to valuable use.

Where else will the pursuit of more sustainable supply chains lead beauty brands? A recent report in ACS Omega suggests fish gut bacteria that may hold promise. A team identified molecules made by the gut bacteria of the red seabream, a fish found in the western Pacific Ocean, and evaluated the compound’s ability to inhibit tyrosinase and collagenase enzymes in lab-grown mouse cells. Three molecules greatly inhibited both enzymes without damaging the cells, making them promising anti-wrinkle and skin-brightening agents, according to the researchers.

Looking Ahead

New discoveries and advancements in biotech will continue to boost use of sustainable ingredients. In fact, in its just-released 2025 global beauty and personal care trend forecast, Mintel predicts precision fermentation and vertical farming will become mainstream in the category.

“Consumers are demanding products that not only deliver on performance but also prioritize environmental responsibility. The beauty industry is headed toward groundbreaking sustainability initiatives that harmonize with the Earth’s natural systems. Brands will create zero-waste, circular-economy-aligned products by forging innovative partnerships and by leveraging practices like biopharming and ingredient upcycling,” noted Clare Hennigan, principal analyst of beauty and personal care, Mintel.

Brands must educate consumers who are still learning about the technologies behind these more sustainable components. 

“While biotech might seem like a buzzword within industry circles, many consumers are still learning about its benefits. However, as we’ve seen with the feedback from our Biomilk launch, when consumers, especially Gen-Z, understand that biotech translates to more sustainable and effective ingredients, they become genuinely excited,” said Bshero of Beekman 1802. “This trend will continue to grow, particularly among younger consumers who are increasingly conscious of the impact their purchases have on the planet. They are eager to embrace brands that align with their values, making biotech a vital area for growth in beauty.”