One of L'Oreal's most complex environmental goals is a push to replace petrochemicals — widely used in cosmetics for their moisturizing and blending properties — by relying on plants, minerals and recycled materials for 95 percent of its ingredients by 2030.
As of the French conglomerate's latest progress report, for 2024, the category leader in cosmetics and personal care — with sales of $45 billion — has managed to reach 66 percent. That achievement is linked to its decision to embed "eco-design" principles into its 4,000-person research and innovation team more than eight years ago.
All new products for 2023 and 2024 were evaluated using the company's proprietary Sustainable Product Optimization Tool, which considers 14 environmental metrics as part of ingredients sections.
More recently, the ecodesign strategy inspired a new perfume made with fragrance collected from flowers using a water-free extraction system. It also drove the refinement of a vertical farm system that lets L'Oreal cultivate plants for its cosmetics using less land, water and energy. Both innovations address another L'Oreal goal: use recycled water for 100 percent of its industrial processes. So far, the company has achieved 53 percent.
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