Dr Fred Zülli, managing director of Mibelle Biochemistry, Switzerland, was invited to discuss sustainable sourcing of raw material for the beauty industry during Rio+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development.
Rio+20 was the biggest UN conference ever held, with broad participation of leaders from government, business and civil society, as well as UN officials and academics. Furthermore it brought together industry professionals to look ahead and to further contribute to sustainable development in the various industries. Dr Fred Zülli discussed the company’s PhytoCellTec technology which was highlighted as an ecobreakthrough in natural cosmetic ingredients as it allows cultivation of plant stem cells. On one side these plant stem cells contain the most active molecules which have shown excellent benefits on skin. And, on the other side they can be used in cosmetics without harming the environment. In particular because only very little plant material (e.g. one fruit or one leaf) is used to establish the plant stem cells culture. Therefore, this biotechnology protects and helps to preserve rare and endangered plants. Also, no agricultural land is required to produce biomass and there is a significant reduction of water consumption compared to conventional biomass production.
