L’Oréal 2030: 95% Of Ingredients To Be Sustainable, Renewables To Replace Petroleum-Derived Products

L’Oréal recently committed to providing its customers’ safe products that are kind to the environment by using a ‘Green Sciences’ approach to ensure that by 2030, 95% of its ingredients will be derived from renewable plant sources, minerals, or circular processes.

Relying on ‘Green Sciences’, France-based cosmetic giant L’Oréal will aim to sustainably cultivate ingredients and extract them using cutting-edge technology. With these new processes, the company plans to make 100% of its formulas safe for aquatic environment and marine life. In addition, the company has pledged to create renewable alternatives to petroleum-based ingredients.

Presently, 80% of L’Oréal’s raw materials are biodegradable with 59% already renewable and 34% derived from natural sources.

Apart from this, 29% of the ingredients used in the formulas were developed keeping the principles of ‘Green Chemistry’ in mind, also known as sustainable chemistry within the industry, a framework based on 12 principles that encourages development that respects the social, environmental, and economic balance of the environment in which it is used. Further, the principles promote a sustainable transformation of biomass into ingredients.

In a press release seen by Green Queen, L’Oréal Deputy Chief Executive Officer, in charge of Divisions Nicolas Hieronimus said that with their new green goals, the cosmetics giant is forging a new path in the brand’s history. “With Green Sciences we are entering a new chapter for L’Oréal Research & Innovation, which has been a key driving force behind the company since its creation. Our ambition is that by 2030 we will be able to offer women and men around the world increasingly effective, safe cosmetics that respect the environment.”

Our ambition is that by 2030 we will be able to offer women and men around the world increasingly effective, safe cosmetics that respect the environment

Nicolas Hieronimus, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, in charge of Divisions of L’Oréal

Apart from using a Green Sciences approach to achieve these goals, the company is working with agronomics, biotechnology, formulation science and modelling tools, as well as developing partnerships with universities, start-ups, and its own raw material suppliers.

Chief Research, Innovation & Technology officer at L’Oréal, Barbara Lavernos, said: “Thanks to Green Sciences we are able to take up this ambitious scientific and technical challenge. This virtuous, circular economy-based approach will allow us to achieve new levels of performance and discover unprecedented cosmetic benefits without compromising on quality or safety, in the service of beauty that is respectful of the planet.”

The company has carried out various sustainability initiatives to date. For instance, as part of the L’Oréal for the Future program last year, the Group conducted an information campaign drawing attention to the environmental and social impacts of the cosmetic industry. In 1995, the firm set up a research laboratory to measure and model the impact of its products on water, soil and biodiversity.

Unlike its peers, L’Oréal stopped testing its products on animals back in 1989 and worked on cruelty-free alternatives by developing reconstructed skin models to test products.

Thanks to Green Sciences we are able to take up this ambitious scientific and technical challenge. This virtuous, circular economy-based approach will allow us to achieve new levels of performance and discover unprecedented cosmetic benefits without compromising on quality or safety, in the service of beauty that is respectful of the planet

Barbara Lavernos, chief research, innovation and technology officer of L’Oréal

The group has launched various other initiatives promoting transparency to its customers, for instance with its ‘Inside Our Products’ website, the site responds to questions from the public about the ingredients that are present in formulas and the composition of its products. This content is slowly being rolled out across the Group’s leading brands including L’Oréal Paris, Garnier, La Roche-Posay, Maybelline, Redken, Eves Saint Laurent, and in over 20 countries, customers can directly speak to researchers behind these formulas.

Vegan beauty and cosmetic brands are on the rise around the world, for instance, recently, U.S.-based fast-food restaurant chain, Chipotle joined makeup brand e.l.f. cosmetics to launch a vegan makeup collection inspired by the former’s customizable menu and the latter also partnered with Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Alicia Keys to launch a vegan beauty collection that will be a cruelty-free, dermatologist-tested, and vegan-friendly collection.

Joining Keys in the cruelty-free beauty trend, ’Gossip Girl’ and ‘Frozen’ star Kristen Bell announced her plans to expand her vegan skincare brand, Happy Dance that features CBD-infused products, at over 500 stores of beauty retail giant Ulta Beauty across the country. Apart from these celebrity brands, singer-songwriter, and actor Selena Gomez’s vegan makeup brand Rare Beauty also launched last September.

Lead image courtesy of L’Oréal.