UPSIZE PH | Watsons Espouses Making Sustainable Beauty Choices

Consumers are now looking for brands that offer quality and sustainability. The increase in consumer awareness has prompted a change in the buying habits of people who want to contribute to environmental rehabilitation.

A.S. Watson Group and its 13 global retail and manufacturing brands have launched their strengthened Social Purpose along with 2030 Sustainability Vision as a response to the growing call for responsible consumption and production.

“As the world’s largest international health and beauty retailer, we have a strong sense of responsibility to create a better world through our global operations. Our social purpose ‘to put a smile on our customers’ faces’ is a core value to our business and deeply rooted in our heritage, from giving free medicines to the needy in the early days, to protecting people’s health against COVID-19 by producing medical masks and supporting vaccination programs,” said Malina Ngai, Group COO of A.S. Watson Group & CEO of A.S. Watson (Asia & Europe).

“We serve over 5.9 billion customers every year around the world and we are thankful to have a powerful community to do good together, to help build a better and more sustainable world,” she said.

As a purpose-driven company with social purpose enshrined in every action over the past 180 years, A.S. Watson Group carries on with its spirit of giving through its 2030 Sustainability Vision, with clear visions for the decade to come on social and environmental sustainability.

❖ Energy: Achieve electricity intensity reduction by 30% against 2015 baseline by 2030

❖ Greenhouse Gas: Reduce GHG emissions (scopes 1 and 2) by 40% from 2015 baseline by 2030

❖ Plastic: Eliminating unnecessary packaging by 2030, avoiding over-packaging and phase out PVC, a minimum of 20% recycled plastic content in plastic packaging by 2025

❖ Community: Through A.S. Watson’s Give a Smile Campaign, they target to restore 10,000 perfect smiles by providing life-changing free surgeries to kids with cleft lips and palates by 2030

In the Philippines, Watsons has taken steps to support the sustainability vision. To fulfill its goal of sustainability through recycling, Watsons partnered with SM Supermalls for their Trash to Cash Recycling Market. Shoppers are enjoined to drop off empty packaging of health and beauty products in exchange for cash and other incentives at designated recycling areas in selected SM malls.

As a response to the challenge of eliminating unnecessary packaging by 2030, Watsons made refill packs available — encouraging consumers to reuse original containers of products to reduce waste. Better ingredients from responsibly managed forests or plantations are used to assure a sustainable future. Watsons has also come up with better packaging for their products to further help in lessening plastic and paper wastes which eventually end up in the ocean.

And as part of its long-term commitment of promoting sustainability, Watsons now carries a wide range of clean beauty products that are available and accessible at affordable prices. Clean Beauty products do not contain any unwanted ingredients and have at least one benefit to society and the environment. Watsons recognizes brands and products that were mindfully created to better serve consumers and minimize waste. These are committed to long-term initiatives which will make sustainability a norm and further the call for environmental consciousness.

Clean Beauty products say no to these 10 unwanted ingredients: Triclosan, Hydroquinone, O-Phenylphenol, Quaternium-15, Borates, Microplastics, Methylene Glycol, Chloroacetamide, Triclocarban and Phthalates.