L'Oreal makes sustainability push in Singapore

L'Oreal Singapore has unveiled its plans for local sustainability efforts for a number of its brands in the next year. Across its multiple brands such as Garnier, L'Oreal Paris, YSL Beauty, Kiehl's, Lancome, and La Roche-Posay, L'Oreal Singapore is cutting down on its plastic use and revamping its packaging to facilitate the ease of its products being recycled. Such efforts include using 100% recycled plastic bottle packaging, as well as using ingredients that are bio-based or are ethically sourced from natural origin.

According to L'Oreal, one of its brand Garnier, was amongst the first brands to remove inner plastic film in its products to reduce footprint. By the end of this year, L'Oreal aims to resize its Garnier Hydrabomb Sheet Masks into a smaller pack to cut down on packaging. The mask size will remain the same, and will be made with biodegradable vegan tissue, and vegan formula. Similarly, its brand L’Oréal Paris is increasingly using clear glass this year to enable 100% recyclability of packaging, and reduction in packaging sizes for waste reduction.

Additionally, L'Oreal's creation of secondary point-of-sales material has also been reduced, by switching to permanent wooden structures instead of one-time-use temporary structures. These structures, such as its product standees placed in personal care stores Watsons and Guardian, can be redressed and reused for durability and waste reduction.

Under its luxury brand, YSL Beauty, L'Oreal has launched the Pure Shots skincare range., where the serum and cream packaging are designed to be reloaded. The Pure Shots bottle shell can be retained, and not thrown away, while its serums can be reloaded at will in the same packaging. Meanwhile, its other product The Perfect Plumper cream is also reloadable, while its Hydra Bounce lotion’s bottle is 100% recyclable as well.

On the operations side, L'Oreal said it is actively reducing waste for its packing and delivery processes. These efforts include shredding old cartons and using them to pack other boxes as voidfill instead of plastic air pouches. It is also using tape-free cartons, or paper tape, for its boxes and thus reducing plastic usage of scotch tape. L'Oreal also added that it has the first innovative trucking solution in the Asia Pacific region that allows double-stacking of products that reduces up to 30% of carbon dioxide emissions. This ensures that deliveries are much more sustainably-efficient. Marketing has reached out for additional information.

L'Oreal Singapore's sustainability efforts comes on the back of L'Oreal's bigger global sustainability program “L’Oréal for the future”, where the group aims to double down on its sustainability efforts. L'Oreal aims to achieve carbon neutrality at all of its sites by 2025, replace 100% of its plastic packaging with more sustainable ingredients by 2030, and to reduce half of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 as well.

Additionally, L'Oreal has also launched a Product Environmental and Social Impact Labelling mechanism last month. The labelling will include 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. It is added that the first brand to implement the new methodology as of 2020 is Garnier for its hair care products. This labelling is said to be progressively extended to other countries, L’Oréal’s brands and product categories. 

Besides defining new quantifiable targets for 2030 to fight climate change, L'Oreal said it is going one-step further by addressing three other major environmental issues: preservation of biodiversity, sustainable water management and circular use of resources. The beauty brand also said that it will not only continue to reduce its direct environmental impacts, but also reduce the impacts of its entire activity including those of its suppliers and consumers. This is in efforts to ensure its business is respectful of a resource-limited planet, and fair for the communities it works with, according to L'Oreal.

Alexandra Palt, L’Oréal chief corporate responsibility officer said: "Over the past decade, we have profoundly transformed our company, putting sustainability at the very core of our business model. 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." Palt added that as an industry leader, L'Oreal considers it its role to contribute to building an inclusive and sustainable society.

Last year in November, L'Oreal became a pioneering member of the Paper Bottle Company (PaBoCo) to accelerate its paper-based packaging innovations. The PaBoCo project focuses on developing paper bottles, and according to L'Oreal then, it is the first player in the cosmetics industry to have integrated PaBoCo alongside Carlsberg, Absolut and Coca-Cola.

PaBoCo is a step-by-step innovation concept focused on scaling and product functionality, focusing on liquid goods such as carbonated and still drinks, and beauty products among others. Each pioneer brand will develop and design their own paper bottle to meet the needs of their category. The first development for L'Oreal is underway with PaBoCo to target the group's first launches in 2021. 

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