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We guide sustainability from two perspectives: people and planet. For people, this started from our founding purpose ‘wellbeing of people’ 25 years ago. Regarding the planet, this originated later with the realization that our success also negatively impacts the environment. Therefore, we asked ourselves how we could minimize our negative impact and what ambitions we should have for the planet.
We then sought an approach to make Rituals more sustainable for both people and planet and found this in the B Corp certification. At that time, there was no clear approach, and experts had different opinions on making companies more sustainable. The B Corp certification provided us with a great guideline and a holistic approach, unlike product-specific certifications or ISO standards for our cosmetic formulas. We found it important that it applied to the whole company. This also raised awareness within the company. Since it involves all departments, everyone realizes how they can contribute. Since 2022, we have been B Corp certified and part of the B Corp community. The B Corp community ensures more collaboration to make the industry more sustainable because sustainability is not a competition; it’s something we work on together.
Sustainability and environmental impact are very broad, but we appreciated having a clear guideline with B Corp. It consists of 280 questions that assess your social and environmental impact. B Corp was fantastic for that. Now, there is also legislation. We currently have 16 regulations we must comply with, making the situation very different. You still have your ambition, but you also have to comply with legislation such as CSRD or the packaging directive. This is a continuous balancing act of prioritizing.
In summary, our journey began with a clear ambition as a wellbeing company for people, and then we added the planet through the B Corp process. Now, our ambition is to achieve not only sustainability but also positive impact through our Impact Fund, where we annually donate 10% of our net profit to the wellbeing of people and the planet.
It’s mainly about creating awareness. I’ve noticed that you need to get people on board with the story; you need to explain it. It’s mainly about facts because there are many contradictions within the cosmetics industry. Everyone expects us to reduce plastic and CO2 simultaneously. That’s very difficult because plastic is relatively low in CO2. If you can’t use plastic, you need alternatives like glass, which are high in CO2. As an industry, we can’t do it right at the moment. You need to learn a lot, involve people, and create awareness.
That we have to do it together. Initially, I built my Sustainability department and determined our strategy with them. But then you realize it doesn’t work that way. Sustainability must be integrated into the entire organization, not a separate department. So, I recently partially split my team and distributed them across different departments. The vision should be that in five years, sustainability will no longer exist separately but will be a core part of Rituals’ way of working. That’s our biggest change now. To achieve that change, we have to do it together. Involve every employee and give them responsibility because that also brings motivation. We now have a big meeting about sustainability every Friday, with someone from each department joining, so we’re no longer doing it alone.
They are now the drivers of sustainability within the organization. For example, the team responsible for Ingredients & Packaging was part of the Sustainability department. But we found to be a better fit in the innovation team. There, they can make the most impact, and the Sustainability department now acts as a sparring partner for them.
Yes, absolutely. We can transform Rituals, but Rituals is a small player in the cosmetics industry. So, we have to do it together to make an impact. We want to redefine the luxury industry. Currently, luxury products in cosmetics are heavy and shiny and not sustainable at all. Take a perfume bottle with heavy double glass and a metal cap that holds only 50 ml. We do this to give the consumer the feeling that it is very valuable. One player in the cosmetics industry won’t change this to a sustainable smaller package; a consumer wouldn’t understand that. A behavior change is needed. However, if all players in cosmetics did this together, it would become the new normal. Look at electric cars. When Tesla started with them, no one expected how normal it would be today. That’s why we set up the Impact Fund to invest together in scale-ups, innovations, and new sustainable solutions to use them together.
I have the perfect job at the moment. I love Rituals and my job. For the planet, however, I hope that Sustainability will no longer be necessary. Rituals should be a sustainable company that no longer needs additional guidance. I hope we can achieve that within five years. The larger industry must also participate, for example, by making glass emission-free or improving recycling. Additionally, I hope to inspire many other companies to join the 10% profit pledge and have an up-and-running Impact Fund. So, ultimately, I hope to be in the same place but with a lot of progress and a company that generates positive business impact on a large scale.
Customer Engagement Manager
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