The ISO 16128 standard, European standard or Green Washing on a large scale?
The ISO 16128 standard, European standard or Green Washing on a large scale?
The universe of beauty is paved with regulations that govern the Organic cosmetics. Label, certification, standards ...
If you wish to find out about this technical issue, there are many elements to take into consideration.
Some regulations And norms are clearly beneficial.
They make it possible to fight against abuse ecological, and for the Well-being of the planet and the skin.
But not all are advantageous.
This is for example the case of the ISO 16128 standard, which has been at the center of many debates since 2017.
But what is this standard?
Why is she controversial?
Green Spa tells you everything.
What is the ISO 16128 standard?
The ISO 16128 standard was created in 2017. It comes from the reflection from 28 countries, and starts from a very good intention.
The primary objective of this standard was to concretely define what we consider as organic products, and like natural products.
It is neither a label, nor a law, nor a specifications : it was a simple harmonization text, which had planned to smooth the Biological requirements Internationally.
If she had worked as she should have, she would have made it possible to harmonize the definition of "biological”On Cosmetic products.
From one European country to another, consumers would therefore have known what they had to do by buying a particular cosmetics.
This standard therefore establishes 4 categories ingredients, and gives the necessary calculations to find out the indices of naturalness of each ingredient.
The idea was to allow the cosmetics manufacturers to display "20 % of ingredients of natural origin", or other percentages.
An excellent idea, to harmonize the requirements in terms of natural and organic composition, throughout Europe.
But then, what happened so that the standard is at the center in many scandals?
Why ISO 16128 standard
Does she do controversial?
Simply because even if the intention was good, the realization was not.
Indeed, this will harmonization biological requirements has actually been translated by a kind of Generalized greenwashing.
There ISO 16128 standard could be displayed on the label of the products, which calculated their biological percentage according to the calculations given.
But !
The ISO 16128 standard is content to define what she wants to see in natural products, without looking at what she does not want to see.
Which means that a manufacturer could quite put his percentage of products biological in his cosmetics.
In the company of conservatives, parabens, phthalates, petrochemical products ...
And even with a composition of 80 % harmful ingredients and 20 % of organic ingredients, the ISO 16128 standard authorized suppliers to display its logo.
Which necessarily induced consumers in misleading.
Instead of becoming a guarantee of quality, the ISO 16128 standard has gradually become a Greenwashing manifestation on a European scale.
Without forgetting that even in its definition of natural product, This standard did the work only half. It defined the natural product as ahead Contain 50 % natural ingredients.
A "natural" product was therefore in reality only halfway.
No real control, no black list of compounds to ban, no regulations on manufacturing processes ...
These are all these points that made the ISO 16128 standard a real pariah in the universe of natural cosmetics.
A mention at banish Cosmetics you use in your institute!
But there are other mentions that are worth the detour:
- All about the organic label in the cosmetic universe
- The European organic label: How does it work in the cosmetics world?
- What does the organic agriculture label involve cosmetic products?
- Take care of animals by choosing cosmetics carrying the cruelty free label
- The vegan label: the essentials to choose the cosmetics well
- Ecocert, the quality label for all professional cosmetics!
- The Cosmos label, or how to make the right choices in cosmetic matters
- The Natrue label in the cosmetic world: what does it involve?