Beauty giant plans to be fully sustainable by 2030

By Puja Gupta

New Delhi, June 30 The one positive impact of the the COVID-19 crisis is the focus by industries to switch to sustainable practices of manufacturing and supplies. Leading the way is cosmetic giant L’Oreal, which plans to be fully sustainable by 2030, and has launched its sustainability programme ‘L’Oreal for the future’.

Under the programme, the group that owns Lancome, Armani and Garnier, aims to keep its operations within “planetary boundaries,” it revealed in a recent webinar held by the group.

By 2030, 100 per cent of the plastics used in L’Oreal’s products’ packaging will be either from recycled or bio-based sources. Within the same timeframe, it will reduce by 50 per cent per finished product, compared to 2016, its entire greenhouse gas emissions, Jean-Paul Agon, Chairman and CEO of L’Oreal announced at the press conference.

By 2025, all of L’Oreal’s sites will have achieved carbon neutrality by improving energy efficiency and using 100 per cent renewable energy, she added. It has also allocated �150 million to address urgent social and environmental issues.

“L’Oreal’s sustainable revolution is entering a new era,” said Agon, adding, “The challenges the planet is facing are unprecedented, and it is essential to accelerate our efforts to preserve a safe operating space for humanity. We do so in our own business operations and in our contribution to the society at large. We know that the biggest challenges remain to come and L’Oreal will stay faithful to its ambition: operate within the limits of the planet”.

To help its 1.5 billion consumers across the globe make more sustainable choices, the group has developed a ‘Product Environmental & Social Impact Labelling’ mechanism. Under this, every product will be given a score on a scale from A to E, with an “A” product considered as “best in class” in terms of environmental impacts. The labels and scores will be accessible on products’ web pages.

Alexandra Palt, L’Oreal Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer, said: “With our new commitments, we are entering a new phase of acceleration of that transformation: going beyond our direct environmental impact, helping consumers to make more sustainable choices, as well as generating positive social and environmental contribution.”