Why is the  French cosmetics company L’Oreal embracing circular economy? Because it’s worth it.

The French cosmetics company L’Oreal received several prizes to reward its commitment to sustainable development in term of production and investment in sustainable energies.

 

What is the circular economy?

A circular economy is an economic concept that falls within an approach of sustainable development. It’s inspired by the notions of the green economy, the product-service system (to produce services or products with the aim of pro-environmental outcomes) and industrial ecology which consists in recycling waste into raw materials for the same industry or another. This system runs on loops and avoids the notion of waste and its negative impacts on the environment. Its main goal is to produce by slowing, closing and limiting abusive consumption and raw materials wastes.

Carbon neutrality, zero net deforestation by 2020, dry-process plants. L’Oreal is tackling sustainable development on all fronts

Thanks to its sustainable strategies and its impact on the green power market, the French cosmetics company received the 2017 Green Power Partner of the Year Award from the Environment Protection Agency (EPA). But that’s not all  L’Oreal also received the highest mark (AAA) from the Carbon Disclosure Project. This organization establishes a ranking of the world’s biggest companies concerning their work in term of environmental impact. This ranking is important in terms of investment, given that  most  investors are attentive to a company’s impact on the environment and what it is doing to narrow it.

L’Oreal put in place a list of objectives by 2020 even if the company has already succeeded in some of them. In 2016 it managed to reduce by 67% its carbon footprint for its production compared to 2005 and by 20% for its transport compared to 2011 and 15 of its production sites are already carbon-free. L’Oreal is also very concerned about the scandals that involved the use of palm oil (due to the deforestation it is causing). The company recently decided to use 100% certified oil which comes from sustainable plantations.

The company is trying to use sustainable energies in all its factories. Because of the importance climate change represents, it’s also cautious about its suppliers. The company establishes a ranking to evaluate their social and environmental performance.

Now, L’Oreal is going further by embracing the circular economy and wants to limit waste with its packaging.

L’Oreal on its way to embrace the circular economy

On 31st October, L’Oreal nnounced that it  concluded an agreement with a French start-up called Carbios and based in Clermont-Ferrand, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. This start-up is specialized in the production of recycled plastic using enzyme technics  that allows the material to disappear completely. L’Oreal wants to use this technics for all its plastic packaging. The company is already using papers and cardboards that are 99% recycled.

Their negotiation agreed on a consortium in order to launch on an industrial scale the production of the bio-recyclable plastic by 2023.

L’Oreal attracted attention on its journey to the circular economy last May when two of its products  received an award from the international company MBDC co-founded by the champion of sustainability and well-known architect William McDonough. The two products that received the award are a shampoo and conditioner using organic elements and their production includes water management, clean energy and limited carbon impact. This organization provides some support for the companies trying to adopt the circular model.

Even if L’Oreal is making a significant progress, the company didn’t give up on animal testing

“Our consumers’ health and safety have always been an absolute priority for L’Oreal. As is the support of animal welfare”. This is what we can read on their website dedicated to the question of animal testing. However, they are still testing their products on animals, where the “authorities required it for human safety or regulatory purposes”.

Thus, there is the question of how can L’Oreal be rewarded while it is testing all of their products on animals? The subject of a sustainable world is very important but so is the creatures that live in it. Maybe they can find a motivation. An award maybe?

Pauline Termini 

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