3 Sustainability Innovations By L’Oréal That Are Making A Positive Environmental Impact was originally published on WayUp.
Finding a job that combines impact with
innovation isn’t easy, but that’s what Danielle managed to do when she became
the Head of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability at L’Oréal USA.
Danielle has spent her career helping
companies make sustainability a priority. She’s worked for fashion, lifestyle,
and entertainment companies in the past, but she’s never had a better
opportunity to make a difference than at L’Oréal. That’s probably because the
company is the world leader in beauty and personal care, and between their 30+
brands, they’re also at the forefront of innovative sustainability practices.
We spoke to Danielle to get an inside look at
some of the most exciting sustainability innovations under way at L’Oréal.
Here’s what she told us.
1. Carbon-Neutral Manufacturing Powered By Renewable Energy
For any company, manufacturing physical
products is an energy-intensive process, which can take a serious toll on the
environment. In fact, the industrial production sector is responsible for 22 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the
US. That’s why L’Oréal found a different way to power their US factories:
renewable energy.
As a part of their effort to achieve carbon-neutral
status at their 21 US manufacturing sites in 2019, L’Oréal pre-purchased 15
years worth of renewable natural gas. They also take advantage of a variety of other renewable energy sources
like wind power, landfill gas, and solar energy.
Thanks to these efforts, Danielle says,
“L’Oréal manufacturing will be running on 100% renewable energy.”
2. Sustainable Packaging Innovations, Like This One
SEED Phytonutrients is one of L’Oréal’s most
innovative new brands. Not only does the brand’s line of personal care products
utilize a unique cold pressed sunflower and camelina seed oil formula—both of
which are sourced from local, organic farms—they’re also packaged in 100
percent recyclable materials.
Using materials like chalk, clay, and
post-consumer paper, the team at SEED Phytonutrients created a bottle that is
not only natural and recyclable, but beautiful. You can even keep the
eco-friendly bottles in the shower; they’re that durable.
But for L’Oréal, SEED was just another step in
a long line of environmental accomplishments.
3. They’re Going “Cradle To Cradle” With SPOT
Cradle to Cradle is an organization that
certifies sustainably, ethically, and responsibly manufactured products. They
ensure that products are made with clean materials, minimal carbon footprint,
and can be recycled back into the economy. Essentially, they’re recognizing
companies creating the production processes of the future.
And for L’Oréal, Danielle tells us, Cradle to
Cradle’s superb standards are an important benchmark—which is why they created
SPOT (the Sustainable Product Optimization Tool)—a sustainability analysis tool
developed in partnership with Quantis and EY.
“The C2C certification mirrors our philosophy
on developing products from concept to be sustainable,” Danielle says. “SPOT
helps us evaluate our products in categories like formula, packaging,
environment, and social impact.”
“Last year we launched five skincare products
for Garnier Skin Active with the Cradle to Cradle certification,” Danielle
tells us. “It was the largest certification of a mass skincare brand at that
time. And we have a goal that 100% of our new and renovated products will have
an environmental or social improvement by the end of next year.”
Making The Personal Powerful
“I joined L’Oreal because of the enormous
opportunities to connect the dots for people who use these products all the
time,” Danielle says. “Everyday people can move toward better environmental and
social practices and make that come to life with the products that they know
and love.”
Being able to transform L’Oréal’s iconic line
of products was particularly powerful for Danielle, who’s been a life-long
customer of the company.
“Maybelline Great Lash Mascara is something
I’ve used since I was 14 years old, and I didn’t realize until I got here that
that mascara was made in a facility that’s powered on solar energy,” Danielle
says.
“It’s amazing that within our portfolio we
have some of the most iconic products in the beauty and personal care space,”
Danielle says. “And that they can also be symbols to represent positive impacts
on the environment and mitigating climate change, to me, is really powerful.”
It turns out you can have a career that combines impact with innovation—and you can
do it at L’Oréal.
Ready to
write your own sustainability story at a company that cares? Check out open
opportunities at L’Oréal on WayUp!
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