L'Oreal betters face value with eco initiatives

Can the world's leading beauty-care company get any prettier? L'Oreal thinks it can - through its work in sustainable development.

The company has set its sights on becoming the leading player in this area and, at the same time, reap financial benefits from the effort the staff have put in, even as oil prices continue to skyrocket.

Last Monday, Safety, Health and Environment (SH&E) senior vice president Zack Mansdorf, helped inaugurate L'Oreal Thailand's Green Monday for the 350 office and warehousing staff. Country manager Claude Rumpler had organised contests and collected about 92 ideas from the staff to reduce energy consumption and waste.

Chairman Lindsay Owen-Jones' statement, "people buy our products not only because they are good but also because of our image", has contributed to the way the Thai unit is being managed.

In the past five years, L'Oreal has shown vast improvement in its performance on the environmental front. CO2 emissions, for example, have fallen 24 per cent during this period, energy use is down 17 per cent, water consumption is down 23 per cent, waste generation has reduced 26 per cent, packaging reduction saw a 13-per-cent drop; but waste-recovery rate has increased to 95 per cent.

Mansdorf, who sees himself as a L'Oreal SH&E ambassador, said these achievements not only brought the company international recognition and awards, but boosted the bottom-line as well. He was hired eight years ago to put processes in place at L'Oreal units around the world. That management vision, he said, is "part of our culture to improve our performance, so it would fit our [present-day] image".

Each L'Oreal business unit is encouraged to discover their take on sustainability. For example, the production unit in Montreal, Canada, consumes water for almost free, because of abundant supply, but is obliged to be "more efficient and more eco-friendly". CO2 emission is measured at all production sites and by zones. And speaking of zones, Europe is doing more but, he said, Asia is moving along quickly too.

Mansdorf details the company's plans of managing eco resources:

Water: Traditionally, a bottle for a litre of water might use up to five litres of the liquid in producing the packaging container. Now, the water is recycled for reuse in production, washing and sanitisation. Lightweight and thinner bottles are liked more now. This year, L'Oreal required that all paper and board used in packaging come from sustainably managed forests.

Waste: An exemplary case is the L'Oreal plant in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which used to pay people to get rid of waste. It achieved a 100-per-cent recovery rate, with no landfill. Some other units even claim a 100-per-cent recovery on their food wastage. The organisation's overall recovery rate of 95 per cent makes it a global leader.

Energy: A considerable reduction in energy use has been achieved over the past five years and now, the company is ready for the next stage in carrying out CO2-emission reduction and for attendant financial benefits. Mansdorf talks about the use of green energy - solar, bio-methane, etc - with a measurable reduction in energy use for each product.

Green chemistry: The company is trying to apply the principles of green chemistry and sustainability to its products and processes. There is an emphasis on the use of biodegradable raw materials of plant origin and the use of chemo- and biocatalytic, low-waste technologies.  Products with low toxicity are emphasised.

Managing SH&E for all units across the world is a huge challenge. Mansdorf has a direct reporting staff of 13 and over 100 indirect reporting staff. The company has manuals and training in more than 80 internal standards. It also promotes employee awareness on SH&E. Key performance indicators for the initiative are collected each month by all manufacturing and distribution sites and some administrative and research units.

On the web

L'Oreal 2007 Sustainable Development Report:

http://www.loreal.com/_en/_ww/index.aspx?direct1=00001&direct2=00001/00004