Plastic in cosmetics, Matteo Rovere video for Greenpeace

Directed by the director Matteo Rovere (Veloce come il vento, Il primo Re, Romulus) with the production company Greenland and starring the actress Greta Scarano (Suburra, La Linea Verticale, Il Nome della Rosa), a video spot by Greenpeace ( created by the creative agency DLV BBDO) aims to denounce and raise public awareness on the issue of pollution of the seas and the planet, focusing on the presence of plastic ingredients in the most common make-up products such as mascara, lipsticks, lip glosses, foundation, powders and highlighters.

Together with the video, the environmental organization offers all people a guide on how to recognize the most used plastic ingredients.

According to data collected by Greenpeace, make-up products can contain plastic ingredients both in solid form, known as microplastics, but also in liquid, semi-solid and / or soluble form and destined to end up in the environment and aggravate the state of contamination of the planet.

The video aims to make us reflect precisely on the long-lasting effect of make-up on our face but also on the long stay of the plastic ingredients contained within them which, due to poor biodegradability, can contaminate the environment for centuries.

Today it is already possible not to use products with plastic ingredients in mascara, lipsticks, lip glosses, foundations, powders and highlighters, and with the Greenpeace guide "The trick is there" it will be easier to identify the products that do not have them.

Cosmetic industry, safe products and commitment to the environment

"The cosmetic industry guarantees safe products for the consumer and confirms its commitment to protecting the environment. From 2015 to today, the use of plastic microparticles in cleansing and rinsing cosmetics has been eliminated exfoliants ".

Thus in a note Cosmetica Italia, the national association of cosmetic companies.

Today the launch of a Greenpeace campaign with a video.

"The Italian and European cosmetic industry - reads the note - has some cornerstones that guide it: the safety of its products and the protection of consumer health. These principles are guaranteed by the European Regulation 1223/2009".

Alongside the regulations, "the attention to the environmental impact of its products remains firm, so much so that the cosmetic industry shares the general objectives aimed at significantly reducing the emission of microplastics into the environment, despite the contribution of cosmetics being marginal, as also confirmed by ECHA 1 in its regulatory proposal for the European Union of these substances ".

In particular, cosmetic companies "have become the protagonists of a voluntary initiative that from 2015 to today - the note from Cosmetica Italia still reports - has allowed the elimination of solid particles in plastic, not biodegradable in the marine environment, from rinsing cosmetics exfoliants and cleansers. Actions of great responsibility that - continue the cosmetic companies - risk not being valued due to alarmist and potentially misleading messages for the citizen that raise doubts about the safety, for man and the environment, of cosmetics containing synthetic polymers ".

"This is the case - continues Cosmetica Italia in the note - of a recent communication campaign focused on make-up products, in which links between the use of these cosmetics and possible negative effects on human health and on the marine ecosystem are assumed. . However, just think of the image commonly evoked by the gesture of removing make-up to realize that the synthetic polymers contained in make-up do not end up in our drains and then reach the aquatic environment, as most consumers mechanically remove the make-up with wipes and special discs that are then disposed of in the solid waste collection system ".