EcoBeautyScore (EBS) is the first global, science-based environmental scoring system for cosmetics and personal care products, designed to make complex life cycle assessment (LCA) usable at industry scale and meaningful to consumers.
Developed collectively by more than 70 companies and professional associations, EBS combines a harmonized methodology, shared environmental data, common scoring rules, secure digital infrastructure and third-party verification. Inspired by the EU’s Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology, it assesses products across 16 environmental impact categories throughout their lifecycle — from sourcing to end-of-life — and translates the results into a simple A–E score that consumers can not only understand, but trust.
Challenge
As demand for credible environmental information increases, the cosmetics and personal care industry has faced a fundamental challenge: how to make complex, multi-dimensional environmental assessment comparable, scalable and actionable across thousands of products and companies.
Individual LCA studies can be costly and difficult to compare when they rely on different data, assumptions or modelling choices. This challenge is particularly acute in cosmetics, given the diversity of ingredients, formulations, packaging and consumer use scenarios — and significant gaps in environmental data for cosmetic ingredients.
Addressing this required more than a calculation tool. It required collective investment in methodology, data, digital infrastructure and governance.
Quantis supported EcoBeautyScore as a scientific advisor, contributing to the development of the cosmetics-specific methodology aligned with PEF, the shared industry database, and the scoring and communication framework underpinning the system.
Solutions
EcoBeautyScore addresses these challenges through:
- Consumer-facing scoring
A simple A–E score that translates complex multi-criteria environmental information into a format that can support decision-making and communication, with third-party verification providing additional assurance.
- Lifecycle-based assessment
A science-based methodology assessing 16 environmental impact categories across the product lifecycle, aligned with PEF. - Collective industry development
A shared framework that enables companies across the sector to work from consistent measurement rules. - Shared data and digital infrastructure
A common data foundation and secure SaaS platform that make environmental assessment more scalable and accessible to companies without dedicated LCA expertise.
Thanks to an unprecedented collective effort, EcoBeautyScore gives the beauty industry the transparency tool it has long been missing”
Jean-Baptiste Massignon, Managing Director, EcoBeautyScore Association
Results
EcoBeautyScore has transformed complex LCA into a shared environmental measurement infrastructure for the beauty industry. More than 10,000 products have been assessed, with brands publishing EBS scores across more than 20 European countries.
Major brands including L’Oréal Paris, Garnier, Neutrogena, Johnson’s Baby, Nivea and Eucerin have begun publishing scores, enabling companies to apply a consistent methodology across portfolios, identify environmental hotspots and support eco-design.
By combining science, shared data, digital infrastructure and collective governance, EBS demonstrates how an industry can create a common language for environmental performance — supporting more credible information for consumers and more actionable insights for companies.
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