In its “Zero Deforestation” policy published in 2014, the Group pledged that by 2020 it would no longer include any product linked to deforestation in its ingredients or raw materials. Since 2007, L’Oréal’s action plans have promoted a sustainable supply of agricultural raw materials that could be a cause of deforestation (palm and soybean oil, fibrewood-based products etc.).
In 2021, aware of the increasingly critical worldwide threat to forests and the social and environmental consequences of deforestation, the Group renewed its goals after consulting with its stakeholders. These new goals can be found in its 2030 Forest Policy.
Capitalising on past achievements in the areas of palm, soy and wood fibre, the 2030 Forest Policy covers more raw materials, prioritised according to their strategic importance and the social and environmental risks identified. It is based on sustainable and responsible management throughout the supply chains and on the preservation and rehabilitation of natural ecosystems adjacent to production areas. It is therefore incorporated into the Group’s sustainable sourcing strategy for its ingredients and sets new goals that are specific to these raw materials.
In addition to the environmental dimension, the 2030 Forest Policy focuses on human rights and improving the living conditions of the communities affected.
Palm: in 2023, L’Oréal consumed 206 tonnes of palm oil and 92,186 tonnes of palm oil and palm kernel derivatives. These derivatives come from the pulp or the kernel of palm fruit respectively. These oils are used to produce glycerine, fatty acids and fatty alcohols which form part of the composition of the Group’s products.
As part of its “Zero Deforestation” commitment, L’Oréal is rolling out a specific strategy for palm oil derivatives in partnership with all stakeholders (producers, NGOs and suppliers):
Palm – certification: 100% of the palm oil used by L’Oréal meets the standards and procedures of the RSPO, according to the Segregated (SG) model. 100% of the derivatives are also certified.
L’Oréal had increased the proportion of its physically certified purchases to 99.8% RSPO Mass Balance by the end of 2023, compared to 99% in 2022. The remainder is covered by the RSPO Book & Claim model.
To complete its certification objectives, L’Oréal made a commitment to have at least 30% of its volumes physically connected to field projects that support small independent planters. In 2023, 31.5% of these volumes were physically connected to sustainable sourcing projects in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Palm – traceability: in 2014, within the framework of its “Zero Deforestation” commitment, the Group had pledged to trace the main palm and palm kernel derivatives that it uses as far as the mills by the end of 2015. This was a complex task as the process for transforming derivatives involves a large number of players and many branches of the supply chains.
With the support of a firm of independent experts, an initial phase involving a survey of L’Oréal’s strategic suppliers began in 2014. These suppliers represented more than half of the volumes of palm and palm kernel derivatives supplied to L’Oréal. Since 2015, L’Oréal has updated and enriched its data collection by extending the scope to cover all suppliers in order to be able to trace and identify the origin of 100% of its main palm and palm kernel derivatives. The results of this work show that Malaysia and Indonesia are the main countries from which supplies are obtained. It was also established that, for 2022, 98.3% of these volumes of palm and palm kernel derivatives could be traced back to the refineries, 96% to the mills and 66% as far as the plantations.
In 2023, based on this work and with the goal of transparency, for the fifth consecutive year L’Oréal published on https://www.loreal.com/en/ a list of the 1,013 mills (944 in 2022) indirectly connected to its supply chain (over 90% of its palm derivative volumes) and a list of its direct suppliers of derivatives.
Palm – measurement tools: in 2016, L’Oréal sought to round out its evaluation and selection tools for suppliers in this stream by developing a specific tool, the Sustainable Palm Index. Every year, it is used to assess the commitment, progress and achievements of direct suppliers in favour of sustainable palm oil. It also evaluates the progress made towards the “Zero Deforestation” objective and suppliers’ compliance with the Group’s requirements. First made public in 2016, this tool is available to all players in the supply chain.
In 2018, to take its commitment further, L’Oréal initiated a collaboration with the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Transitions. The goal was to develop a tool to evaluate refineries and crushers (which extract the oil from the kernels) on the basis of their reporting, policies and procedures. The indicators used in this evaluation were aligned with the requirements of the Group’s deforestation standards. This tool has been available and public since 2019. At the mill level, the Group has used Global Forest Watch’s risk assessment tool since 2016 to ensure that no derivatives traced to mills are linked to deforestation. In 2018, the procedure for dealing with cases of non compliance with the “Zero Deforestation” commitment by direct or indirect suppliers was also published. Since November 2019, in order to contribute to the sector transformation, L’Oréal has been a founding member of Action for Sustainable Derivatives (ASD), an initiative coordinated by BSR and Transitions. The Group actively contributes to ASD, in particular by sharing all its methodologies and tools developed since 2014.
