For this week's discussion, I have picked the L'Oréal company. I do
not wear makeup myself, but I know that L'Oréal sells a wide range
of beauty and skincare products. When I opened the company
website, I immediately noticed that L'Oréal applies the Triple Bottom
Line framework to their business. In fact, they specifically mention
their commitment to "the planet, the people, and products" (L'Oréal,
2021). In their 2030 sustainability commitment booklet, CEO Jean-
Paul Agon reflects on past and current sustainability goals and shares
the environmental and social goals the company has dedicated itself
to for the next eight years.
L'Oréal consumes a massive amount of natural resources to
manufacture its beauty products. The company's four big
sustainability goals include:
Optimizing packaging
Creating eco-friendly formulas that reduce water footprint
Respecting the environment by reducing carbon emissions,
waste, and water consumption
Empowering women by investing in environmental projects
The biggest issue inherent to the beauty industry is the
environmental damage done every year. For example, packaging
destroys over 18 million acres of forest annually (Sherriff, 2019).
Then, there is the fact that L'Oréal uses about 1,600 raw materials
from 350 plants and consumes many natural resources, such as
water. Nevertheless, L'Oréal has achieved great success already. The
company uses recycled PET plastic for over 76% of its products and
has pledged to source its raw materials 100% sustainable by 2030
(L'Oréal, 2021).
To tackle its water consumption issue, L'Oréal decided to decrease
its amount of water in formulas and business operations. It is a noble
goal that seems complicated to reach. The goal in business is to
expand and sell more continually, but how can L'Oréal sell more if
the decreased water use creates fewer products and reduces profits
in return? Furthermore, by sourcing its materials sustainably, L'Oréal
will increase product costs significantly. However, I believe taking
these risks is worthwhile, and L'Oréal does, too. Otherwise, they
would not have committed to these goals. L'Oréal has built an empire
that depends on nature to function. Therefore, it is in its best interest
to preserve natural resources and work on ways to exist in the
future. The company's goals make sense from another often
overlooked business perspective. In 2019 millennials stood as the
largest generational consumer group (Fry, 2020). Environmentally
friendly products are essential to this generation (Choudhary, 2020).
It has become apparent that environmentally friendly products will
become the standard soon. It's a future some companies want to be
ready for.
Susanne
References
Choudhary, A. (2020, August 18). Generation Green is leading the
Sustainability Agenda. Retrieved
from https://www.capgemini.com/2020/08/generation-green-is-
leading-the-sustainability-agenda/
Fry, R. (2021, May 28). Millennials overtake baby boomers as America's
largest generation. Retrieved
from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/28/millennia
ls-overtake-baby-boomers-as-americas-largest-generation/
L'Oréal. (2020, January 23). L'Oréal group: Commitments &
Responsibilities. Retrieved
from https://www.loreal.com/en/commitments-and-responsibilities/
