In conjunction with the celebration of Earth Day (22nd April 2009), L’Oréal today announces a renewed commitment to reducing its environmental impact and resource use as well as to maintaining a safe and healthy workplace.

Renewed Commitments: 2015 Targets Raise the Bar for Environmental Performance

L’Oréal has established three significant long-term environmental targets for the period 2005-2015, applicable to its factories and warehouses:

• Halve its greenhouse gas emissions: In 2005, the total CO2 emissions were 230.3 thousands of tonnes.

• Halve its water use per unit of finished product: In 2005, the water consumption was of 0.72-litre per finished product.

• Halve its waste generated per unit of finished product. In 2005, the waste generated per unit of finished product was of 32.2 grams.

These reductions will be calculated on a like-for-like basis. In addition to these benchmarks, L’Oréal will continue to publish annual goals for other indicators, and report annually on their progress.

These renewed goals reflect the Group’s commitment to meeting previously determined targets. Over the past year, L’Oréal has reduced total CO2 emissions by 6.6% (-11.5% since 2005), reduced its water use per finished product by 3.8% (-13% since 2005), and reduced its waste per finished product by 0.5% (-10.1% since 2005) while increasing its recycling rate to 95%.

Jean-Paul Agon, CEO of L’Oréal comments, “At the dawn of the 21st century, the world’s leading beauty company needs to be an authentic example in terms of sustainable development. This long-term, self-imposed commitment sets the bar high and we intend to put all our forces behind it to ensure that we rise to the challenge.”

Promoting an Eco-Responsible Business Model
L’Oréal makes use of several different internationally recognised Environmental, Occupational Health and Safety (EH&S) management systems including ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, and OSHA VPP in the United States. L’Oréal is committed to an eco-responsible approach focused on understanding the impacts of its business. This consideration weighs on all stages of the research process and all steps in the life of the raw materials, from dialogue with the suppliers to the end of the life of the finished products.

This approach demonstrates a new step in fulfilling our commitment addressing the environment expectations of our consumers the world over.