Since 2017, L’Oréal has been working to discontinue sending waste to landfill and has a“zero waste to landfill” objective for all its sites by the end of 2030 (unless required by regulation). Alongside specialist companies and local authorities, the Group strives to implement the best available processing solutions. Sites may only send waste to landfill when required by local regulations or when the nature of the waste generated requires that it is stored in specialist disposal centres.
The Group’s factories and distribution centres rallied together to ensure this objective was achieved for the five consecutive years up to 2022. However, industrial sites did not achieve the “zero waste to landfill” objective in 2023 as the waste from some of the Group’s factories and distribution centres was sent to landfill (without regulatory constraints). Stricter monitoring of regulatory constraints has been set up and action plans have been implemented with the aim of reaching this target as quickly as possible.
Research centres achieved the “zero waste to landfill” objective in 2023. For administrative sites, the approach is more recent, but has accelerated.
The achievement of this target is part of the more overarching circular economy approach the Group is engaged in. As far as possible, L’Oréal seeks to promote the local treatment of waste, in order to reduce the environmental impact and to create synergies with other local stakeholders.
4.3.1.2. Involving suppliers in the Group’s transformation
Above and beyond its strict requirements for its own sites, L’Oréal has for a number of years applied an environmental policy to its entire value chain. L’Oréal works in partnership with its suppliers to improve the environmental profile of its products via the eco-design and sustainable sourcing of packaging, ingredients, formulas and their method of transportation. This worldwide ecosystem covers all the Group’s needs for packaging, raw materials, subcontracting, production equipment, promotional and advertising articles etc. The commitment and performance of this ecosystem are crucial to achieve the Group’s objectives.
L’Oréal runs numerous global events (Spread the green vibes). These enable the Group to share its sustainability ambitions, introduce L’Oréal for the Future to a wider audience and disseminate its action plans. In 2023, more than 2,000 suppliers were invited to attend 18 of such events across all Zones.
In 2023, to help progress its objective to reduce its carbon intensity, the Group set up a platform for sharing good practices (Spread the Best Practices), which highlights solutions, impacts and key factors to success.
4.3.1.2.1. Due diligence: selecting and assessing strategic suppliers
A/ Assessing suppliers according to their environmental and social performance
The Group has decided to use the environmental and social performance of its partners and suppliers as a primary selection and evaluation criterion. L’Oréal’s commitments under its L’Oréal for the Future programme are in line with the Group’s responsible purchasing policy initiated in 2002 with the L’OréalBuy & Care programme.
In 2022, L’Oréal published a new sustainable sourcing strategy focused on four pillars:
- the protection of human rights;
- the preservation of the environment and resources;
- the integrity of business relationships; and
- diversity, equity and inclusion.
This strategy includes commitments, objectives and monitoring tools for each pillar. The values and standards are shared with suppliers. Meanwhile the objectives are based on collaboration with external experts using recognised benchmarks. This common framework integrates these stakes into the heart of the business model in order to achieve sustainable performance.
The Purchasing teams have defined five standard performance criteria to assess and select suppliers: quality, social and environmental responsibility, innovation, supply chain and services, and competitiveness.
These standards represent the basis for daily performance and long‑term strategies. A global scorecard is used for all purchasing domains. It makes it possible to accurately measure supplier results, in particular their corporate social responsibility commitments, which represent 20% of the final assessment of suppliers.