Maturity level assessment of green reverse logistics in the European cosmetics industry.

Abstract

The cosmetics industry is one of the largest contributors to end-of-life waste in Europe due to the wide variety of packaging used for beauty products and the rapid emergence of new products. To tackle this aspect and due to the growing concern and interest in sustainability among consumers and organisations, the personal care industry has started to implement various strategies to reduce its ecological impact, including the implementation of collection programs and adopting a circular approach.

The aim of this master thesis is to evaluate the level of maturity of the beauty sector in terms of green reverse logistics through unsold product and empty packaging recovery management. This study also explores the drivers and barriers experienced by retailers and producers to implement reverse supply chain operations.

To this end, a qualitative research was conducted by analysing secondary data, conducting a qualitative survey and interviewing European producers. This research concluded that overall, the European industry is naïvely mature in terms of product recovery and empty packaging returns management. It also put forward that there is a significant gap between green reverse logistics management of SMEs and large cosmetics groups. Areas for improvement such as the need to adopt a comprehensive overview of the value chain and the lack of strategy in reverse supply chain management were highlighted.