At CODIF Technologie Naturelle, this eco-responsible approach is part of the company’s DNA. More than 20 years ago, CODIF has been able to automatically integrate it into their ongoing investment policy. Today, this choice to be constantly turned towards environment allows the company to recycle 42% of their waste. 75% of the marketed ingredients come from cultivation, 100% are processed with green and natural solvents and comply with ECOCERT standards.

Over the past 10 years, CODIF has been deeply committed to invest in local companies with high innovation potential and in Hi-Tech manufacturing tools allowing the substitution of processes with high energy impact:

- 1000 m2 of culture platform in photobioreactor;
- 3000 m2 of cultivated area under climatic shelters;
- 1 advanced technological tool with low ecological impact: supercritical fluids.

And because the environment is both a source of inspiration and a primary source of creation, CODIF has chosen to present their commitments and the performance of their ingredients around 3 dimensions:

- Protecting the environment, first source of inspiration.
- Cultivating with full consciousness.
- Make a commitment with their customers.

Protecting the environment, first source of inspiration

CODIF Technologie Naturelle realizes every day their ambition to minimize their impact on the environment.

That is why for more than 10 years, their industrial site located in Roz-sur-Couesnon, in Mont Saint-Michel’s bay, is managing in an exemplary way. It has a completely natural effluent treatment process: filtering gardens. Thanks to a biological and natural purification using regional plants to filter the water, and without the addition of chemicals, outlet waters are cleaned and, after sanitary control, are allowed to be released into the natural environment.

The algae used in manufacturing processes are salvaged for use as compost and the by-products of plant extractions are used to create natural mulch for plant crops under climatic shelters.

Protecting our environment also means controlling our consumption. Some of their extracts from a first generation of cosmetic active ingredients have been obtained processes with a strong ecological impact. In order to develop a new generation of extracts closer to their eco-responsible approach, CODIF Technologie Naturelle’s researchers have developed four performance indicators that allow them to validate a more energy-efficient process with a lower environmental impact.

100% of the electricity comes from renewable energies

Greenhouse gas emission rate: 0.18kg of carbon per kilogram of product manufactured

Cultivating with full consciousness

To ensure that the natural resources which contribute to the biodiversity and balance of our planet are preserved, a lot of their raw materials are cultivated through various bio-technological processes.

Today, hydroponic cultivation allows us to access plant resources that are difficult to find in the wild and to control their production without impacting natural resources. A 6 m2 seed growing area, exclusive to CODIF Technologie Naturelle, produces up to 75,000 seeds per year.

On a surface over 1000 m2, CODIF’s biotech-experts cultivate in their iphotobioreactors a series of ancestral micro-algae and calcified seaweeds accessible only by diving and never cultivated before as the Jania rubens, for instance.

Under their climatic shelters, the harvesting method is automated and the quality of water used for irrigation is continuously monitored.

In the open sea, in Saint-Malo, more than 1000 m2 of private and protected concession are used for marine plants. This space guarantees a total control of water quality, a raw material of exemplary quality, certified organic, whose cultivation and harvest are 100% manual.

The implementation of these sustainable cultivation methods was not done in 1 day, CODIF Technologie Naturelle’s teams worked for years to condition this success:

- Understanding and identifying the role of each algae, plant or microalgae in its habitat, environment and ecosystem.
- Taking inspiration from this habitat to recreate growing conditions as close as possible to the natural environment and in compliance with the COSMOS BIO standard.
- Identifying local actors, specialists in these resources to develop with them a long-term economical partnership.
- Supporting and investing constantly in research programs and theses funding for the development of original and innovative farming methods.

Make a commitment with customers

Being a successful and responsible actor in the cosmetics industry also means guaranteeing our customers the traceability of the species we grow and evaluating the performance of our eco-responsible policy every year.

CODIF Technologie Naturelle is one of the first actors to have collaborated with DNA GENSEE on the identification and traceability of algae species using DNA barcoding, a powerful and innovative tool for botanical identification.

Every year, the ECO-VADIS label, which is based on international standards for sustainability, assesses them. In 2018, they were rewarded with a Gold level that only 9% of the companies evaluated in the same sector reach.

Recently, the association La Chimie du Végétal (Vegetal Chemistry Association) published an interactive map of 200 French companies respectful of nature and plants and as hoped, CODIF Technologie Naturelle is one of them.

A pride for all women and men that make CODIF what it is today, to be able to develop competitive products while using innovative processes with reduced carbon footprint.

Being at the forefront of innovation and technology, it is also embodies the arrow, the direction, the compass needle that guides and accompanies the cosmetics actors towards the challenges of tomorrow: toward a world that’s more involved, more responsible, better performing and more respectful of nature and its perfection.