L’Oréal unveils sustainability programme ahead of Earth Day

The world’s largest cosmetics company has ambitiously pledged to reduce its carbon footprint by 50% before 2030, setting a prime example for other beauty brands to follow.

With Earth Day around the corner (and an estimated one billion people mobilised to take part in this year’s events), it seems fitting to shine a light on the members of the beauty and personal care industry that are paving the way for a greener future.

At the forefront of this movement – one that’s seen several brands pledge to rethink their reliance on plastic and significant contribution to the global pollution problem – is L’Oréal, which has kickstarted a company-wide project targeting conscious consumers.

Titled For the Future, the sustainability plan outlines a host of environmental goals, including a transition to recycled or bio-based packaging, a promise to reduce its carbon footprint by 50% before 2030, and an effort to ensure that 95% of all ingredients are derived from circular sources moving forward.

It has also allocated a whopping 100 million euros to impact investing dedicated to the regeneration of ecosystems as well as 50 million euros to supporting highly vulnerable women in the fight against the climate emergency.

‘It’s time to accelerate innovation in the field of sustainability, move the world to a circular economy, and reduce the impact of our products,’ says head of L’Oréal Paris, Delphine Viguier-Hovasse.

‘There is still a lot of work to be done, but we are committed to making a difference and playing our part in this race against climate change.’

L’Oréal isn’t starting from scratch, however, successfully managing to cut its CO2 emissions by 82%, water consumption by 44%, and waste production by 35% between 2005 and 2020.

And, in addition, 80% of the raw materials it currently uses are easily biodegradable, 59% are renewable, and 34% are natural or of natural origin.

This is thanks to the recent advances in Green Sciences, a concept developed in 1998 that allows beauty and personal care manufacturers to extract ‘the best of nature’ through high-tech processes.

It’s a profound transformation that’s set to completely change the way products are created and produced from now on because, with end-of-life in mind from the start, green sciences can be applied to every part of the supply chain, not just formulation.

‘Earth Day’s vision for change states, it’s time for the world to hold sectors accountable for their role in our environmental crisis while also calling for bold, creative, and innovative solutions. We echo this vision,’ finishes Delphine.

‘As the number one beauty brand in the world, we have a duty to change our beauty codes in order to adopt a more sustainable approach and allow our consumers to consume more responsibly.’

Although we should treat every day like Earth Day, it’s never too late to start implementing sustainable practices in your daily routine that’ll help protect our environment.

So, given that one of the best ways to be more eco-conscious is to buy from brands with an ethos like L’Oréal’s, let’s make an effort this year to encourage others to follow suit and stop supporting those reluctant to jump on the ‘save the planet’ bandwagon. I know I’m going to.