THE L’ORÉAL SUSTAINABILITY
COMMITMENT
2019 
PROGRESS
REPORT

CONTENTS
SHARING BEAUTY WITH ALL :  
L’ORÉAL’S COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINABILITY 
03
EDITORIAL BY JEAN-PAUL AGON, 
CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER 
04 
2019 IN FIVE KEY FIGURES  
05
 
2020 COMMITMENTS, 2019 RESULTS 
06
Developing SUSTAINABLY
PROMOTING ACCESS TO EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL INCLUSION 
21
JOINING FORCES WITH SUPPLIERS TO MEET THE GROUP’S COMMITMENTS 
22
PUTTING EMPLOYEES AT THE CENTRE OF COMMITMENTS 
23
Living SUSTAINABLY
EVALUATING THE FOOTPRINT OF PRODUCTS 
18
RAISING CONSUMER AWARENESS OF SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION 
19
Producing SUSTAINABLY
REDUCING CO2 EMISSIONS 
14
REDUCING WATER CONSUMPTION 
15
REDUCING WASTE 
16
Innovating SUSTAINABLY
REDUCING THE ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT OF FORMULAS  
09
RESPECTING BIODIVERSITY 
10
OPTIMISING PACKAGING 
11
ACHIEVING ZERO DEFORESTATION 
12
THE CARBON BALANCED PROJECT – 
TOWARDS A LOW CARBON BUSINESS
24 
BRAZIL - L'ORÉAL DISTINGUISHED AS A MAJOR SUSTAINABILITY ACTOR
REPORTING: A RECOGNISED PERFORMANCE 
25
FIND OUT MORE ONLINE
Learn more about 
L’Oréal’s sustainability strategy, 
commitments and initiatives at 
www.loreal.com/sharing-beauty-with-all
The pdf version of this document complies
with the requirements of ISO 14289-1 on the
accessibility of online content. It has been
adapted for people with sight
impairments or motor disabilities.
08
13
20
17

Sharing Beauty With All:  
L’Oréal’s commitment  
to sustainability
L’ORÉAL’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE UNITED NATIONS’ SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
As part of L’Oréal’s sustainability 
programme, Sharing Beauty With All, 
launched in 2013, the Group has set  
itself a series of tangible commitments  
towards the end of 2020. They address all its 
impacts and engage its whole value chain 
– from product design to distribution – 
including the production process and the 
sourcing of raw materials. These 
commitments are organised into four 
pillars: innovating sustainably, producing 
sustainably, living sustainably and sharing 
growth with employees, suppliers and the 
communities with which L’Oréal interacts. 
Every year, L’Oréal measures its progress 
quantitatively, making its results available to 
everyone. By upholding its commitment to 
continuous improvement, L’Oréal maintains 
an ongoing dialogue with its stakeholders, 
in order to share its sustainability strategy 
and co-create its initiatives. This 
sustainability programme, along with its 
strong commitment to ethics, its policy of 
promoting diversity and inclusion, and its 
philanthropic activities (conducted with 
the support of the Fondation L’Oréal and 
by its brands), enable the Group to 
contribute to 15 of the 17 Sustainable 
Development Goals defined by the United 
Nations in 2015.
 
3
PROGRESS REPORT 2019

Our collective 
responsibility is immense, 
and everyone can make a 
difference. We are therefore 
actively working with our 
partners and suppliers.
2019 was a year of new advances 
towards our 2020 Sharing Beauty 
With All goals, L’Oréal’s programme 
of transformation towards a more 
sustainable, responsible company 
and good corporate citizen. A year 
from our deadline, 2019 also 
enabled us to consider lessons 
learnt, and prepare for the future.
Firstly, we learnt that our drive to 
achieve a paradigm change has been 
decisive. Before launching the 
programme, L’Oréal had already been 
engaged for more than 20 years in 
efforts to reduce our impact. Through 
Sharing Beauty With All, we went well 
beyond that. Our ambition was to 
collectively reinvent the way in which 
we run our business – with an ambitious 
strategy and goals spanning the entire 
value chain. Product sustainability is 
now just as fundamental a criterion as 
quality and profitability. Moreover, our 
non-financial results are edited in the 
same way as our financial results. In 
2019, 85% of our new or renovated 
products already had an improved 
social or environmental profile. And we 
have directed our transition towards a 
low-carbon business model, reducing 
the CO2 emissions of our production 
sites by 78% between 2005 and 2019, 
while increasing our production by 37% 
in the same period. Yes, we are proving 
that decoupling impact from growth is 
possible. 
Secondly, we learnt that Sharing 
Beauty With All has generated a 
virtuous circle. For all of us, setting 
ambitious goals has been an 
incredible source of acceleration. And 
therefore performance. This ambition 
requires us to be bolder, more creative 
and more innovative on a daily basis. 
As of now, I can say that we will be 
able to meet the majority of the 
programme’s 2020 goals. For others, 
the journey will be a little longer.
Editorial
Jean-Paul Agon
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
4

2019  
in five
key figures
-78%
3A
90,635
89%
85%
 
L’Oréal’s sustainable 
revolution marks the dawn 
of a new era.
Transformation towards sustainability is a continuous exercise, 
which requires us to perpetually challenge ourselves. The most 
important of all is to ensure that the dynamic of transformation is in 
place.
Lastly, our commitments create a positive ripple effect across our 
whole ecosystem. Our collective responsibility is immense, and 
everyone can make a difference. We are therefore actively 
working with our partners and suppliers. And we believe that 
sustainable change, in order to be complete and truly impactful, 
will also be achieved by raising awareness of more responsible 
consumption among consumers. This is why we are going to make 
information available on the social and environmental impact of 
our products. Catalysing change everywhere is our duty, and 
without doubt one of our greatest future challenges.
Our ethical principles – integrity, respect, courage and transparency – 
guide our development, contribute to our reputation and notably 
form the foundation of our policies on sustainability, social and 
societal responsibility, compliance and philanthropy. Today, I am 
most proud that L’Oréal should be doubly recognised, both as a 
leader in its profession and a sustainability leader, by independent, 
authoritative experts. In 2019, we were the only company in the 
world to have achieved CDP’s triple A rating (the highest possible 
ranking) for the fourth year running, for our efforts to fight climate 
change, manage water sustainably and prevent deforestation. 
L’Oréal ranks No. 1 globally in the Covalence EthicalQuote index 
of ethical performance. In terms of gender equality, we are 
recognised as one of the most gender equal businesses in the 
world. Within the context of our ongoing commitment to the UN 
Global Compact, we have been named as one of the 36 LEAD 
companies, an accolade reserved for the most advanced 
organisations on responsible business and that contribute to the 
UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. And we have been 
distinguished for the tenth time as one of the most ethical 
companies in the world by the Ethisphere Institute.
But the scale of the challenges facing our planet is unprecedented. 
We know that the greatest transformations are still to come. And 
that they will have to be deeply disruptive.
We remain faithful to our ambition – L’Oréal strives to be and must 
be exemplary. We must always do better, and more rapidly, given 
the tremendous pace of the current global turmoil.
L’Oréal’s sustainable revolution marks the dawn of a new era.
We have reduced the CO2 emissions of our 
plants and distribution centres by 78%,  
in absolute terms, compared to 2005,  
while increasing our production volume  
by 37% in the same period.
In 2019, for the fourth year running, our 
Group was awarded a triple 'A', the best 
possible score, in each of the rankings 
conducted by CDP on three key topics: 
protecting the climate, managing water 
sustainably and the fight against 
deforestation. We are the only company 
worldwide to have achieved 3 ‘As’ from CDP 
four years in a row.
The number of people from 
underprivileged communities who have 
gained access to employment through 
one of our Group's programmes.
The proportion of our brands that have 
conducted an assessment of their 
environmental and social impact.
85% of products launched or renewed in 
2019 have an improved social or 
environmental profile. Each time a product 
is created or renovated, its contribution to 
sustainability is now taken into account, in 
addition to its performance and 
profitability.
5
PROGRESS REPORT 2019

2020 commitments, 
2019 results
Every year, L’Oréal reports the evolution of its sustainability performance in relation to its goals for the end of 2020. 
The table below provides a concise, overall summary of the Group’s progress within the four major focus 
areas of its Sharing Beauty With All programme, using ‘strategic’ performance indicators*. The figures  
and activities relating to each focus area are shared in detail within the pages of this report.
Innovating sustainably
2020 TARGETS
2019 RESULTS
2018 
RESULTS
100% of L’Oréal products will have an improved 
environmental or social profile.
Every time the Group creates or renovates a product,  
it will improve the product’s environmental or social 
profile with regard to at least one of these four criteria:
85%  of new or renovated products have an improved 
environmental or social profile.
79%
•  the new formula reduces the product’s 
environmental footprint, particularly  
with regard to water use;
46%  
 of new or renovated products now have an improved 
environmental profile due to a new formula with a lower 
environmental footprint.
48%
•  the new formula uses renewable raw materials 
that are sustainably sourced or derived from 
green chemistry;
59%  
 of new or renovated products now have an improved 
environmental profile due to a new formula incorporating 
renewable raw materials that are either sustainably sourced  
or respect the principles of green chemistry.
43%
•  the new product has a positive social impact;
40%  
 of new or renovated products now have an improved 
social profile, as they incorporate raw materials from Solidarity 
Sourcing programmes.
31%
•  the new packaging has an improved 
environmental profile.
67%  
 of new or renovated products now have  
an improved environmental profile due to packaging  
with a lower environmental footprint.
58%
Producing sustainably
2020 TARGETS
2019 RESULTS
2018 
RESULTS
L’Oréal will reduce the CO2 emissions generated  
by its plants and distribution centres by 60%  
in absolute terms, compared to 2005.
-78% reduction in CO2 emissions from plants and distribution 
centres since 2005.
-77%
L’Oréal will cut the CO2 emissions linked  
to the transport of its products by 20%  
(in gram of CO2 per sales unit per km),  
compared to 2011.
-12% reduction in CO2 emissions linked to the transport  
of products (in gram of CO2 per sales unit per km) since 2011  
with 434,293 tonnes of CO2 emitted in 2019.
-8%
L’Oréal will lower its water consumption  
by 60% per finished product, compared to 2005.
-51% decrease in water consumption at plants  
and distribution centres since 2005 (in litres/finished product).
-48%
L’Oréal will reduce its waste generation  
by 60% per finished product, compared to 2005.
-35% reduction in waste generated from plants and distribution 
centres since 2005 (in gram per finished product).
-37%
L’Oréal will send zero industrial waste to landfill.
The 0 
 waste to landfill goal (beyond regulatory requirements) for 
all factories and distribution centres was achieved in 2018.
 
* The ‘strategic’ indicators as well as the figures and detailed initiatives exclude aquisitions and sub-contracting.
Social, societal, environmental and health and safety data in this report was verified by the Group’s auditors Deloitte & Associés and PricewaterhouseCoopers 
Audit, and are indicated throughout by symbols highlighting the level of audit assurance: 
 (moderate) and 
 (reasonable). Please refer to the 
methodological note and 2019 Assurance Report published in the ‘Publications’ available at: www.loreal.com/sharing-beauty-with-all-resources.
6

Living sustainably
2020 TARGETS
2019 RESULTS
2018 
RESULTS
L’Oréal will evaluate the environmental  
and social profile of all its products  
using an assessment tool.  
All brands will make this information publically  
available to allow consumers to make  
sustainable choices.
100% of new or renovated products in 2019 were assessed 
using our product assessment tool*.
% of brands communicating information arising from the product 
assessment tool to consumers**.
100%
All brands will assess their environmental  
and social impact and make commitments  
to improve it.
89%  of brands have assessed their environmental  
or social impact.
88%
Every brand will report on its sustainability progress  
and raise consumer awareness of its commitments.
57%  of brands conducted a consumer  
awareness initiative.
57%
Consumers will be able to influence L’Oréal’s 
sustainability efforts through a consumer  
advisory committee.
In 2019, in an extension of the advisory committee established in 
2016, L’Oréal continued its policy of actively listening to consumers on 
sustainability topics. This encompassed multiple studies conducted 
among American, Indian and European consumer panels, enabling 
the Group to understand their expectations and refine its policies. 
Developing sustainably…
2020 TARGETS
2019 RESULTS
2018 
RESULTS
… with communities
By 2020, L’Oréal will enable more than 100,000 people 
from underprivileged communities to gain access  
to employment through the following programmes:
90,635  people from underprivileged communities  
gained access to employment.
63,584 
people
• Solidarity Sourcing programme; 
70,912  people gained access to work through  
the Solidarity Sourcing programme.
56,842 
people
•  vocational training in the beauty sector;
18,443  people from highly disadvantaged backgrounds 
took part in free vocational training in the beauty sector  
as part of the Beauty For a Better Life programme, supported  
by the L’Oréal Foundation.
5,565
people
•  equal opportunities for people with disabilities.
1,280  people with disabilities work for L’Oréal.
1,177
people
… with suppliers
L’Oréal will assess and select all strategic suppliers  
on the basis of their environmental and social 
performance.
87%  of the Group’s strategic suppliers*** have been  
assessed and selected to date on the basis of their environmental 
and social performance.
83%
All strategic suppliers will assess their own sustainability 
policy, with L’Oréal’s support.
96%  of strategic suppliers have completed a self-
assessment of their sustainability policy with L’Oréal’s support.
93%
All suppliers will have access to L’Oréal training tools  
to improve their sustainability policies.
Our dedicated online training platform was launched at the end  
of October 2016. It is firstly being made available to strategic suppliers, 
before being gradually implemented more broadly.
20% of strategic suppliers will support the Solidarity 
Sourcing programme.
17%  strategic suppliers are involved in the Solidarity 
Sourcing programme. 
13%
… with employees
Employees will benefit from health cover that  
reflects best practice in their country of residence.
94%  of the Group’s permanent employees benefit from 
health cover that reflects best practice in their country of residence.
96%
Employees will benefit from financial protection  
in the event of a life-changing accident.
91%  of the Group’s permanent employees have access  
to financial protection in the event of a life-changing accident 
(death or permanent disability). 
93%
Every L’Oréal employee will be able to attend  
at least one training session per year, wherever  
they are in the world.
96%  of the Group’s employees benefitted from at least  
one training session in 2019.
88%
* The scope includes products made by L’Oréal (except full-buy, recent acquisitions, testers and samples, etc.).
** This indicator will be completed when the social and environmental display mechanism is finalised; this is currently being developed and will be implemented  
by the Group’s brands.
*** ‘Strategic suppliers’ are suppliers whose added value is significant for the Group by contributing to L’Oréal’s strategy through their weight, innovations, shared goals
and geographical representation.
7
PROGRESS REPORT 2019

Reducing the environmental footprint of formulas / 09
Respecting biodiversity / 10
Optimising packaging / 11
Achieving zero deforestation / 12
By the end of 2020, 100% of L’Oréal’s products will have an improved environmental or social profile. 
The Group is promoting sustainable innovation by reducing the environmental footprint of its 
product formulas, by sourcing raw materials in a responsible, sustainable way that respects 
biodiversity, by optimising packaging and by committing to zero deforestation.
 
8

By the end of 2020, 100% of our products will have 
an improved environmental or social profile, due in 
particular to improvements in the environmental 
profile of product formulas.
Improving the biodegradability of 
product formulas
L’Oréal has conducted lifecycle assessments to measure 
the environmental impacts of its products for many years. 
These studies highlight that water is one of the principal 
impacts of formulas on the environment, in particular the 
water discharged by the consumer during rinsing, once 
the product has been used.
Our teams therefore focus on improving the 
environmental profile of product formulas in two ways:
•  improving the biodegradability of formulas, i.e. their 
ability to be broken down by natural micro-organisms;
•  reducing their water footprint, which represents the 
product’s impact on the aquatic environment.
An eco-design tool for formulas
L’Oréal has categorised all the products it manufactures 
(shampoos, hair care, styling, hair colours, shower gels, 
skin care, deodorants, sun care, make-up, perfumes, etc.) 
according to the benefits they offer to consumers.  
We have defined 143 product categories and screened 
more than 40,000 formulas. We created an eco-design 
tool with the aim of improving the environmental profile of 
our formulas, while maintaining the same benefits for our 
consumers. 
Integrated within SPOT, the Group’s product evaluation 
tool (see page 18), this mechanism is used by all the 
product formulator teams. Among the new products 
launched in 2019, products across the Group’s diverse 
brands feature formulas with levels of biodegradability 
exceeding 98%. For example, this includes Biotherm’s Life 
Plankton TM Essence, Vichy’s Liftactiv specialist peptide-C 
anti-aging ampoules, Biolage R.A.W.’s Fresh Recipes 
Cleansing Juice, and Garnier’s Pure Thyme Perfecting 
Toner. 
In total, the average biodegradability rate of all our 
shampoos sold in 2018 rose to 91%, and that of our shower 
gels increased to 92% (compared to 89% in 2017).
Recognised results
These improvements in the footprint of our formulas, 
combined with the reductions in water consumption 
achieved at production level (see page 15), have 
enabled L’Oréal to obtain in 2019, for the fourth year 
running, an ‘A’ score (the highest level of performance), 
in the ranking of companies on sustainable water 
management conducted by CDP (see page 25). 
Reducing the environmental  
footprint of formulas
GARNIER 
FRUCTIS HAIR FOOD ALOE VERA, 
A MASK LINKING RESPONSIBILITY 
WITH EFFECTIVENESS 
In 2019, Garnier launched its new ultra-
nourishing Fructis Hair Food, composed 
of ingredients of 98% natural origin and 
enriched with Aloe Vera to hydrate the hair. 
Reinforcing Garnier’s best-selling Fructis Hair Food range, this product 
can be used as a detangling conditioner, as a mask or non-rinse 
treatment. Not only effective, the formula of this new treatment is also 
particularly responsible – vegan (without any ingredient or derivative 
of animal origin), 98% biodegradable and dermatologically tested. 
It is also composed of pure vegetable oils and made in a factory 
committed to sustainable practices. 
85% 
of new or renovated products in 2019 have  
an improved environmental or social profile*.
46%
of new or renovated products have an improved 
environmental profile, due to a new formula  
with a lower environmental footprint.
IMPROVING PRODUCTS
ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT OF FORMULAS
MONITORING INDICATORS UP TO 2020
  See page 6 for more information on the audit of indicators.
* These are either new products for which new formulas have been developed and are being produced for the first time in the Group’s manufacturing plants,  
or products for which packaging was created or updated in 2019.
9
PROGRESS REPORT 2019

By the end of 2020, 100% of our products will have 
an improved environmental or social profile.  
To achieve this goal, the Group promotes the use  
of renewable raw materials that are sustainably 
sourced or derived from green chemistry.
Prioritising the use  
of renewable raw materials
Today, 59% 
 of L’Oréal’s raw materials (by volume) are derived 
from renewable sources, and are largely of plant origin. The 
Group uses approximately 1,600 raw materials  from nearly 350 
species of plants originating from around a hundred countries. 
68% 
 (by volume) of these renewable raw materials are 
derived from sources certified as sustainable**.
Certain products launched in 2019 comprised more than 98% 
renewable raw materials, such as rich cream Sanoflore Rosa 
Fresca, L’Oréal Paris’ Extraordinary Oil Make-up Remover Milky 
Gel 3 in 1, Biolage R.A.W.’s Fresh Recipes Aloe Jelly, and 
Giorgio Armani’s Crema Nera reviving volcanic mask.   
Our product formulators are strongly encouraged to use 
ingredients that are either:
• sustainably sourced;
•  or prepared using green chemistry principles, i.e. via 
processes that reduce the number of chemical synthesis 
stages as well as solvent, energy consumption and waste.  
In 2019, 28% of the raw materials used by L’Oréal (by 
volume) in its formulas were developed according to 
green chemistry principles.
Strengthening L’Oréal’s  
sustainable sourcing methodology
In 2019, we continued to implement our sustainable 
sourcing policy for renewable raw materials. This 
methodology was strengthened with the support of the 
NGO Rainforest Alliance, and is based on the following 
principles:
•  guaranteeing the traceability of raw materials, which 
means knowing the origin of the plant and the country 
in which it was produced;
Respecting
biodiversity
RAW MATERIALS AND BIODIVERSITY
59%
of new or renovated products have  
an improved environmental profile due  
to a new formula integrating renewable 
raw materials that are responsibly 
sourced or respect the principles of green 
chemistry.
SOCIAL IMPACT OF PRODUCTS
40%
of new or renovated products have 
an improved social profile as they 
include, in particular, raw materials 
produced through Solidarity 
Sourcing programmes.
MONITORING INDICATORS UP TO 2020
85%
of new or renovated  
products in 2019 have  
an improved environmental  
or social profile*.
IMPROVING PRODUCTS
MADAGASCAR
SOURCING CENTELLA ASIATICA SUSTAINABLY
The active extracts of Centella Asiatica are used in skincare products. 
In 2016, L’Oréal launched a project in partnership with its suppliers and 
the support of the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT), aiming to preserve 
this wild plant while guaranteeing traceability, quality, fair pay for the 
women collecting the Centella leaves, and respect of Human Rights. By 
the end of 2019, 3,366 women had benefitted from fair pay and taken 
part in training on good collecting practices. This is helping to ensure the 
preservation of this resource while making it easier to extract and in this 
way, lowering the footprint of the production process. Encouraged by 
these results, the partners have decided to renew the initiative for another 
three years. In parallel, studies on cultivating Centella and optimising 
the extraction process of its active ingredients have been conducted, 
in order to develop techniques that are more respectful of this fragile 
resource and the balance of biodiversity. 
  See page 6 for more information on the audit of indicators.
* These are either new products for which new formulas have been developed and are being produced for the first time in the Group’s manufacturing plants,  
or products for which packaging was created or updated in 2019.
**  The list of recognised certifications was defined with the support of the NGO Rainforest Alliance in 2017. This list is consistent with L'Oréal’s grid of sustainable sourcing 
criteria (comprising 88 indicators), which was reviewed in 2019 by EcoCert Expert Consulting, The Biodiversity Consultancy and The Danish Institute for Human Rights.
•  evaluating social and environmental issues  
with suppliers in each sector;
•  verifying that the following criteria are respected:  
-  labour conditions must be decent and safe, in line with 
human rights and the principles prescribed by the 
International Labour Organization, across the whole 
supply chain;
-  equal opportunities and zero discrimination between 
producers are verified, and women’s empowerment  
is encouraged;
-  the growing and harvesting of crops must contribute to 
improving producers’ livelihoods and respect traditional 
knowledge of biodiversity, in line with the principles  
of the Nagoya Protocol;
-  growing and harvesting practices preserve biodiversity, 
particularly forests;
 -  sustainable, low-carbon agricultural practices are put  
in place;
•  having this entire process verified by an independent third 
party, in order to measure the positive impact of the 
programmes on the respective sectors. In 2019, the on-the-
ground audit process for producers (comprising 88 indicators) 
was reviewed by Ecocert Expert Consulting, The Biodiversity 
Consultancy and The Danish Institute for Human Rights.
10

YVES SAINT LAURENT
PURE SHOTS, AN ECO-DESIGNED LUXURY TREATMENT
In 2019, the Yves Saint Laurent brand launched a new range of specially 
targeted skincare, the Pure Shots serums. In keeping with the brand’s 
DNA, this elegant product, designed to be refilled, is presented in the 
form of a compact and practical bottle, into which slides a cartridge 
of serum. In order to reduce its environmental impact, the cartridges 
of all four types of serum can be inserted into the same transparent 
bottle. This eco-design enables a significant water saving and a 
carbon footprint reduction, compared to producing a non-refillable 
bottle. The impact is halved if customers use an entire product and 
three refills, instead of four whole products, with a 52% reduction in 
total packaging weight. Pure Shots goes to prove that sustainable 
innovation without compromise on luxury is possible. 
By the end of 2020, 100% of our products will have an 
improved environmental or social profile. Optimising 
packaging is essential to achieving this goal.
Since 2007, L’Oréal has implemented a responsible 
packaging policy based on three pillars, known as  
the ‘three Rs’: Respect, Reduce and Replace. The Group  
uses a global, systematic eco-design process, ahead  
of product design, for the packaging of finished products 
and also for packaging used during transport. L’Oréal 
extended this process to include point-of-sale (POS) 
advertising materials in 2015. It systematically analyses  
the environmental profile of its packaging using SPOT, 
L’Oréal’s product assessment tool (see page 18).
Respecting the environment
For its paper, cardboard and wood-fibre based packaging, 
the Group has set itself a target of using only materials from 
responsibly managed forests where biodiversity is protected 
(FSC or PEFC). In 2019, 100% 
 of the paper used for product 
use instructions, 99.9% 
 of the cardboard used for product 
packaging and 94% of the paper and cardboard used in POS 
was certified. Since 1st January 2018, the Group has not used 
any PVC-based material in the production of its finished 
products, with the exception of recent acquisitions.
Reducing and optimising resources
Designing packaging of an optimal size and weight  with 
fewer resources, including large sizes and refillable formats, 
represents another major opportunity to drive improvement. 
In this way, in 2019, the Group reduced the weight of Garnier’s 
300ml shampoo bottles by 8% in Europe, representing a 
saving of 30 tonnes of PET plastic.  
Replacing materials with  
more sustainable alternatives
L’Oréal replaces conventional materials with alternatives  
from recycled or renewable sources (recycled or bio-sourced 
materials) at every possible opportunity. In 2019, the Group 
replaced virgin materials with 13,204 
 tonnes of recycled 
materials (PCR), an increase of 52% on 2018. This progress is 
primarily the result of its efforts to integrate recycled content 
within plastic and glass packaging.
Forging strategic partnerships 
Determined to promote the development of innovative plastic 
recycling solutions, L’Oréal has forged a partnership with 
PureCycle with the aim of producing recycled, food grade PP 
(polypropylene). This is in addition to the commitments it 
undertook with the company LOOP TM Industries in 2018 to 
increase its supplies of recycled, food grade PET plastic, as 
well as the co-creation, in 2017, of a consortium with the 
company Carbios, to develop and industrialise enzymatic 
bio-recycling technology**.
Within the context of the SPICE initiative,*** L’Oréal also continued 
to share its packaging optimisation methodology in 2019, 
developed using SPOT, its product evaluation tool (see page 18). 
The Group is also participating in the reflections led by the Ellen 
MacArthur Foundation through its New Plastics Economy initiative, 
of which it has been a core member since 2018. In particular, 
L’Oréal has committed to making 100% of its plastic packaging 
refillable, reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.
Optimising  
packaging
67%
of new or renovated 
products have an improved 
environmental profile,  
due to packaging with  
a lower environmental 
footprint.
MONITORING INDICATORS UP TO 2020
85%
of new or renovated 
products have  
an improved 
environmental  
or social profile  
in 2019*.
PRODUCT  
IMPROVEMENT
PACKAGING
MATERIALS
CERTIFIED PAPER  
AND CARDBOARD
13,204
tonnes of recycled 
materials replacing 
virgin raw materials 
(+52% compared 
to 2018).
100%
of paper used for the instructions 
included with products is certified.
99.9%
of cardboard for product  
packaging is certified.
  See page 6 for more information on the audit of indicators.
* These are either new products for which new formulas have been developed and are being produced for the first time in the Group’s manufacturing plants, or products 
for which packaging was created or updated in 2019.
** LOOPTM Industries is a company specialising in plastics recycling, which supplies the Group with food grade PET derived from recycling through chemical 
depolymerisation. The company Carbios is a pioneer in the development of enzymatic processes for the biodegradation and biorecycling of plastics.
*** The Sustainable Packaging Initiative for Cosmetics (SPICE) is an initiative co-created by L’Oréal and the consultancy Quantis, which shares each participant’s 
best practices and methodologies, in order to standardise the methods used to evaluate the environmental footprint of packaging.
11
PROGRESS REPORT 2019

As part of our deforestation policy, published in 2014, 
we pledged that by the end of 2020 at the latest, none of 
the ingredients and raw materials used in our products 
would be linked with deforestation.
Since 2007, L’Oréal has implemented action plans in order to 
ensure the sustainable sourcing of raw materials that may be 
the cause of deforestation.
Palm oil, palm oil derivatives  
and palm kernel oil derivatives 
L’Oréal purchased less than 320 tonnes of palm oil in 2019, and 
uses the equivalent of 70,000 tonnes of palm oil palm oil 
derivatives (from the pulp of the palm’s fruit) and palm kernel oil 
(the extract of the kernel). 100% 
 of the palm oil sourced by 
L’Oréal complies with Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) 
standards, following the Segregated (SG) model. Regarding 
palm oil derivatives, also 100% 
 certified, L’Oréal has increased 
the proportion of its Mass Balance purchases, achieving 70% in 
2019 (compared to 54% 
 in 2018). The remainder is covered by 
the RSPO Book and Claim model. Furthermore, in 2014, the Group 
began tracing derivatives all the way back to their source. For the 
year 2018,* 98% of L’Oréal’s derivative volumes were traced back 
to refineries, 88% back to mills and 25% back to plantations. In 
2019, L’Oréal published a list of 1,355 mills indirectly connected to 
its palm oil derivatives supply chain, as well as a list of direct palm 
oil derivatives suppliers.
L’Oréal uses the deforestation risk evaluation tool devised  by the 
NGO Global Forest Watch. All the Group’s direct suppliers are 
assessed in line with the Sustainable Palm Index, another tool 
available to stakeholders within the palm oil sector. To make 
further progress, in 2018 L’Oréal began developing a new tool to 
evaluate refineries and crushers (which extract the oil from the 
nuts) on the basis of their policies, procedures and reporting. The 
indicators used for this assessment are aligned with the 
requirements of the Group’s zero deforestation standards. This 
tool was made public in 2019. 
Soya oil and its derivatives
In 2019, 100% of soya oil used by L’Oréal and sourced from Latin 
America (270 tonnes annually) was certified as sustainable 
MONITORING INDICATORS UP TO 2020
PALM OIL
100%
of supplies of palm oil, palm oil 
derivatives and palm kernel oil 
derivatives have been certified 
sustainable in line with RSPO 
criteria since 2012.
Achieving  
zero deforestation
INDONESIA
SUPPORTING PRODUCERS IN PREVENTING DEFORESTATION
By the end of 2019, in the region of Berbak, in Jambi, on the 
Indonesian island of Sumatra, 7,169 independent palm oil producers 
had benefited from training on good agricultural practices. The 
increase in the quality of their harvest and yields has enabled 
these farmers to stabilise and boost their income. The aim of this 
sustainable sourcing project, launched by L’Oréal in 2018 together 
with the NGO SNV (Netherlands Development Organisation), is to 
train 12,500 smallholder farmers in five years, in order to prevent any 
deforestation, while improving their quality of life. The involvement 
of all actors in the supply chain reinforces the traceability and 
improves the control of production practices to help guarantee zero 
deforestation. L’Oréal is also supporting the restoration of 22,000 
hectares of peatland in the region, participating in this way in the 
protection of a biodiversity corridor and avoiding the emission of 
50,000 tonnes of CO2 in 2019. 
100%
of soya from Latin America 
is certified sustainable.
SOYA OIL
CERTIFIED PAPER AND CARDBOARD
100%
of paper used for the instructions 
included with products is certified.
99.9%
of cardboard used for product 
packaging is certified.
(organic label or Identity Preserved (IP)). The soya oil 
derivatives used by the Group are largely sourced from zones 
classified as posing no risk of deforestation.
Wood-fibre based products
Among the materials used by L’Oréal for its packaging,  
100% 
 of paper used for product instructions and 99.9% 
  
of cardboard for product packaging come from sustainably 
managed forests (certified according to FSC or PEFC 
standards). Additionally, 94% 
 of the paper and cardboard 
used in POS materials is certified. L’Oréal also uses other 
wood-based ingredients in its products, such as cellulose 
derivatives and certain perfumery ingredients. A study 
conducted together with the NGO Rainforest Alliance enabled 
L’Oréal to remove deforestation risks from its principle supplies. 
For the fourth year running, L’Oréal was awarded an ‘A’ 
score by CDP, the highest possible level of performance, 
for its sustainable forest management.
 
In 2019, 30 of the Group’s suppliers of paper, palm oil and soy 
took part in the third edition of the Forest Disclosure Project 
Supply Chain, a CDP programme (see page 22). 
To learn more about the topic of palm oil, please see our 
Palm Oil Progress Report, on loreal.com.
 
  See page 6 for more information on the audit of indicators.
* Traceability has been recorded for purchases in 2018, as the traceability data represents the culmination of a process of collection among all the actors in the supply 
chain, of verification and consolidation of data collected by an independent third party.
12

Reducing CO2 emissions / 14
Reducing water consumption / 15 
Reducing waste / 16
L’Oréal set itself a goal, by the end of 2020, to reduce the environmental footprint of its plants and 
distribution centres by 60%, compared to 2005. At L’Oréal, reducing greenhouse gas emissions in 
absolute terms, water consumption and waste generation per finished product, and improving 
product transportation impacts have become fundamental indicators of industrial performance.
13
PROGRESS REPORT 2019

MONITORING INDICATORS UP TO 2020
Reducing  
CO
 
2 emissions
CO2 EMISSIONS FROM PLANTS AND DISTRIBUTION CENTRES SINCE 2005* 
(kilo tonnes in absolute terms, based on GHG Protocol methodology, Scopes 1 and 2)
CO2 EMISSIONS LINKED TO  
TRANSPORT SINCE 2011**  
(in gram of CO2 per sales unit  
per km)
-1
434,293 2
 tonnes of CO
%
2  
emitted in 2019.
  See page 6 for more information on the audit of indicators.
* Indicator calculated according to the ‘market-based’ methodology defined by the GHG Protocol. These values take into account the emissions connected to refrigerant leaks.
** The calculation relates to the Group’s operational boundary, and excludes new acquisitions (Stylenanda and Logocos), as well as products sold online from the Group’s websites.
*** The 14 plants that achieved carbon neutrality in 2019 are: Libramont in Belgium, Settimo in Italy, Alcalá de Henares and Burgos in Spain, Gauchy, Ormes and Rambouillet, 
Vichy and La Roche-Posay in France, Karlsruhe in Germany, Yichang and Suzhou in China, Montreal in Canada and Funza in Colombia.
In 2019, we reduced the greenhouse gas (GHG) 
emissions of our plants and distribution centres by 
78% in absolute terms, compared to 2005, exceeding 
the -60% goal in place for the end of 2020. 
Between 2005 and 2019, L’Oréal reduced its GHG 
emissions by 78% in absolute terms. This exceptional 
result was recognised for the seventh year running by CDP, 
which gave L’Oréal an ‘A’ ranking for its efforts to fight 
climate change. 
We are pursuing our initiatives with an ever greater 
ambition – the Group’s new 2030 emission reduction goals 
have been approved by the Science Based Targets 
initiative and cover the whole of its value chain, including 
its direct and indirect impacts.
In September 2019, L’Oreal joined the UN’s Business Ambition for 
1.5°C initiative and committed to achieving net zero emissions of 
CO2 by 2050, thereby contributing to maintaining global 
warming to below 1.5°C, compared to preindustrial levels.
Improving energy efficiency
For more than 20 years, the Group has reduced energy 
consumption at its manufacturing sites by improving 
building design and insulation, optimising industrial 
processes and using energy-efficient technologies.  
Between 2005 and 2019, it was reduced by 36% (in kWh 
per 1,000 finished products). The Group also engaged in 
an initiative to achieve ISO 50001 certification (energy 
management) in all its factories. By the end of 2019, 68% of 
its factories (or 26 factories) were certified. L’Oréal also 
continued implementing its new tool, Energyscan, which 
categorises every type of energy consumption on a 
particular site. The best level of performance is established 
as a standard for all the Group’s plants.
Increasing the use of renewable energy
With major projects leveraging technologies adapted to sites’ 
geographical location (biomass, biomethanisation, solar 
panels etc) and the purchase of renewable gas and electricity, 
69% of the needs of L’Oréal’s factories and distribution centres 
are now met by energy from a renewable source. By the end of 
2019, the Group counted 35 industrial sites having reached 
carbon neutrality, including 14 factories***.
Reducing product transport emissions
L’Oréal has reduced the emissions linked to the transport of 
products from its manufacturing plants to its distributors by 12% 
(by sales unit per km), compared to 2011. In 2019, its sustainable 
transport strategy focused on three pillars: reducing air freight; 
the GLAM (Green Last Mile) initiative, which proposes solutions 
enabling the Group to reduce its environmental impact in urban 
areas; and the implementation of a Green Lanes initiative 
promoting the reduction of CO2 emissions on long distance road 
transport routes. As part of these efforts, L’Oréal has also 
conducted its first rail freight tests between Europe and China. 
Engaging suppliers
Since 2009, L’Oréal has encouraged suppliers to work with 
CDP, within the context of the CDP Supply Chain 
programme. In 2019, 479 of them took part, compared to 
437 in 2018 (see page 22).
Please see our Greenhouse Gas Assessment on the 
loreal.com website.
CHINA
MEETING THE CARBON NEUTRAL 
CHALLENGE 
In 2019, the L’Oréal factory in Suzhou, China, 
became carbon neutral. This step was 
decisive for the Group, as China has now 
become L’Oréal’s first country to have reached 
carbon neutrality for all its sites: factories, 
distribution centres, centres of Research and 
Innovation and tertiary sites. L’Oréal China began this journey in 2018, 
when the Chinese and French authorities visited the Suzhou site and 
signed an agreement on carbon neutrality. The factory achieved this 
goal in June 2019, following the construction of a CHP (Combined Heat 
and Power) installation, which has enabled the site to produce its own 
electricity and thermal energy from renewable sources. 
-78%
65.7
2017
55.5
2018
242.6
2005
51.8
2019
81.2
2016
14

Reducing  
water consumption
BELGIUM
LIBRAMONT FACTORY: A FOURTH ‘WATERLOOP FACTORY’
The Group’s Libramont factory in Belgium has become the Group’s 
fourth ‘waterloop factory’, following the Burgos, Spain, factory in 2017, 
the Settimo, Italy, and Vorsino, Russia, factories in 2018. All the water 
used to run the factory (for cleaning tanks, producing steam, utilities 
etc) comes from water recycled in a loop on site. The water obtained 
from public water supplies is only used within the composition of 
products or for employees’ needs. The factory, specialised in creat-
ing hair colour products for the mass European market, overcame 
the challenge of recycling wastewater thanks to a combination of 
two technologies: inverse osmosis (filtration with membranes) and 
evapoconcentration (distillation). This installation within the factory’s 
wastewater treatment facility, which ensures a biological and phys-
ico-chemical treatment of used water, enables the recycling of an 
average of 200m³ of water per day. That is 60 million litres per year, or 
the equivalent of 600 families’ annual consumption. 
MONITORING INDICATORS UP TO 2020
WATER CONSUMPTION IN PLANTS AND DISTRIBUTION CENTRES SINCE 2005 (in litres per finished product)
We have committed to reduce our water 
consumption by 60% per finished product by the 
end of 2020, compared to 2005. To achieve this goal, 
we are undertaking multiple initiatives: optimising 
consumption and developing projects to treat, 
recycle and reuse water at its production sites.
L’Oréal prioritises responsible water use within its manufacturing 
operations by minimising its water requirements and taking  
into account the local availability of this vital resource. All the 
projects already in place in 2019 allowed the Group to lower 
the water consumption (in litres per finished product) of its 
plants and distribution centres by 51%, compared to 2005. This 
represents a reduction of 33% of the Group’s consumption in 
absolute terms, while production increased by 37% during the 
same period.
These programmes, combined with the Group’s efforts 
to improve the water footprint of the products’ formulas 
(see page 9), saw L’Oréal honoured by CDP for the fourth year 
running with an ‘A’ score, the highest possible level, in its 
ranking of corporate performance on sustainable water 
management (see page 25).
Optimising water consumption
The Group uses the Waterscan tool in all its plants to categorise 
diverse types of water use (cleaning, lavatories, cooling, etc.) 
and identify how much water is consumed within each 
category. The best level of performance achieved for a 
particular type of water use is established as a standard  
for all the Group’s plants.
Reusing, retreating and recycling
The Group continues to install water treatment stations on  
its manufacturing sites. L’Oréal’s goal is to reuse industrial water
in an appropriate state for new use at every possible opportunity, 
and retreat the wastewater exiting its treatment plants with 
diverse technologies (ultrafiltration, inverse osmosis, etc.),  
in order to extract very high-quality water. This water is reused 
for cleaning production tools or for cooling processes.  
By the end of 2019, 14 plants* within the Group had  
installations of this kind in place, breaking new ground  
in the cosmetics industry.
‘Waterloop factory’** ambition
Overall, L’Oréal continues to implement technologies that enable 
its factories to become ‘waterloop factories’. This concept requires 
all the water necessary for production processes (cleaning 
equipment, producing steam etc) to be entirely derived from 
water recycled in a loop on site, with no water sourced from 
public water supplies. Optimising these manufacturing processes 
have contributed to reducing certain sites’ water needs by up to 
80%, compared to 2005. In 2019, L’Oréal finalised its Libramont 
(Belgium) site’s ‘waterloop factory’ transition, bringing these 
factories to a total of four within the Group.
Engaging suppliers
Since 2013, L’Oréal has invited its suppliers to participate in the 
Water Disclosure Project Supply Chain. In 2019, 94 of them 
accepted this invitation to take part in this programme led by 
the CDP (see page 22).
  See page 6 for more information on the audit of indicators.
* In Karlsruhe (Germany), Libramont (Belgium), Montréal (Canada), Suzhou (China), Burgos (Spain), Florence (United States), Aulnay and Rambouillet (France), 
Pune (India), Jakarta (Indonesia), Migdal (Israel), Settimo (Italy), Mexico (Mexico), Vorsino (Russia).
**The concept of ‘dry factory’ was renamed as ‘waterloop factory’ in 2019. All the associated definitions remain unchanged.
-51%
0.723
2005
0.378
2016
0.375
0.375
2017
2018
2019
0.350
15
PROGRESS REPORT 2019

FRANCE
PARTNERING FOR A CIRCULAR 
ECONOMY OF GLASS
L'Oréal is committed to creating value from 
all its factories’ waste, of which 70% will be 
recycled or reused. In order to implement 
recycling for unavoidable waste such as 
damaged, obsolete or unsold perfumes, 
the L’Oréal Luxe sites in France have forged 
a partnership with a company called Cèdre, which dismantles the 
perfumes and transforms the recovered materials, particularly 
glass, into secondary raw materials. The recovered glass is then 
sent to the Pochet factory, one of the Group’s bottle suppliers, which 
incorporates it within its new bottles. In this way, the Christmas 2019 
edition bottle for Viktor&Rolf’s Flowerbomb perfume was composed 
of 10% high quality recycled glass. These partnerships are therefore 
a way to move towards a more circular economy, where products 
are partially made with materials recycled from waste generated 
during the production of previous products. 
Reducing  
waste
MONITORING INDICATORS UP TO 2020
WASTE GENERATION IN PLANTS  
AND DISTRIBUTION CENTRES SINCE 2005  
(in gram per finished product)
WASTE RECOVERED
WASTE SENT TO LANDFILL*
  See page 6 for more information on the audit of indicators.
*Beyond local regulatory requirements.
97%
of industrial waste 
recovered.
0 industrial 
waste  
sent to landfill.
We have committed to reduce the waste generated by 
our plants and distribution centres by 60% by the end 
of 2020, compared to 2005. We are undertaking 
ambitious efforts to reduce waste at source, while 
also ensuring the recovery of residual waste.
A highly ambitious policy
We have an ambitious waste management policy which 
goes well beyond regulatory compliance. The Group has 
therefore set itself a very stringent definition of the concept 
of ‘waste’, which includes, for example, raw material 
packaging or product packaging and sludge from 
wastewater treatment plants. 
In 2019, the Group reduced the quantity of waste generated 
by 11% in absolute terms, while production increased by 
37% in the same period. That represents a reduction of 35% 
waste generated per finished product, compared to -37% in 
the previous year. The slightly lower result this year is primarily 
due to an unusual generation of waste linked to the quality 
and obsolescence of raw materials and finished products. 
Generating less waste at source
In order to fulfil its waste reduction commitment, L’Oréal 
is optimising its use of materials across its manufacturing 
operations. This approach is based on multiple Group-wide 
projects that seek to:
•  reduce waste related to transport packaging in plants  
and distribution centres, through eco-design, 
lightweighting, and optimising, reusing and standardising 
materials. Another strategy in place is ‘wall-to-wall’ 
production, whereby a packaging production unit 
managed by a supplier is established on site. This allows 
the plant to reduce the transport of packaging and  
the generation of waste linked to transport packaging;
• 
•  install sludge treatment systems in plants equipped  
with a wastewater treatment facility, in order to reduce  
the volumes generated and consequently the impact  
of their transport and their downstream treatment.
Recovering residual waste
L’Oréal aims to go one step further by ensuring the best 
possible recovery of waste that cannot be avoided at 
source. In 2019, it recovered 97% 
 of its industrial waste 
by reusing or recycling it, or harnessing it to produce 
energy. 58% 
 of this waste was comprised of recovered 
materials (i.e. reused or recycled).
 improve manufacturing and packaging processes  
to minimise production losses; 
Promoting circular economy
Throughout its value chain, L’Oréal endeavours to 
promote eco-design, resource efficiency and local waste 
management. The Group seeks to join circular economy 
networks wherever it operates, creating industrial 
synergies with other players in the area.
-35%
23.6
15.4
14.8
14.9
2005
2016
2017
2018
15.3
2019
16

Assessing the footprint of products / 18
Raising consumer awareness of sustainable consumption / 19
L’Oréal aims to empower its consumers to make sustainable choices. To achieve  
this goal, the Group has adopted a multi-faceted approach: gathering information  
on the environmental and social impact of its products, evaluating the footprint  
of each brand, raising awareness among consumers and making sustainability desirable.
17
PROGRESS REPORT 2019

MONITORING INDICATORS UP TO 2020
Assessing the footprint  
of products
REDKEN
AN EXAMPLE OF SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCT 
PERFORMANCE MEASURED BY SPOT
In 2019, the Redken brand reformulated its iconic product lines All Soft,
Extreme and Color Extend within a range of shampoos and conditioners
called Nature + Science. Thanks to the SPOT tool, the social and 
environmental performance of these products has improved across the
following four areas:
•  Packaging: the bottle is composed of 100% PCR (Post Consumer 
Recycled), except for the colouring;
• I ngredients of natural origin: between 83% and 99% depending on 
the Product;
•  Social impact: the packaging is sourced sustainably from two suppliers 
that promote access to employment and female entrepreneurship. 
% of brands sharing information arising from 
the product assessment tool with consumers to 
help them make informed consumption choices. 
This percentage of brands that communicate 
information to consumers derived from SPOT will be 
completed as soon as the social and environmental 
display system is finalised. The system is being 
developed and will be deployed by the end of 2020.
100% 
of new or renovated products in 2019 were 
evaluated using the product evaluation tool*.
CONSUMER INFORMATION**
PRODUCTS EVALUATED
* The scope regards products produced by L’Oréal (except full-buy, recent acquisitions, testers and samples, etc.).
** This indicator will be completed when the social and environmental display mechanism is finalised. The mechanism is currently being developed and will be 
implemented by all the Group’s brands.
*** The Sustainable Packaging Initiative for Cosmetics (SPICE) is an initiative co-created by L’Oréal and the consultancy Quantis, which shares each participant’s  
best practices and methodologies, in order to help standardise methods for evaluating the environmental footprint of packaging.
By the end of 2020, we will make information  
relating to the environmental and social profile  
of our products available to consumers, in order  
to help them make informed, sustainable  
consumption choices.
SPOT: a unique evaluation tool
Between 2014 and 2016, L’Oréal’s Sustainability,  
Packaging and Research teams worked on developing  
an innovative tool allowing them to assess the social  
and environmental performance of the Group’s products, 
and integrate, for the first time, social as well as 
environmental criteria. The Group implemented the tool, 
known as the Sustainable Product Optimisation Tool 
(SPOT), in 2017 across all its brands. In 2019, the Group 
evaluated the social and environmental profile of all the 
products developed during the year using this tool. L’Oréal 
shared its evaluation method for the environmental 
footprint of packaging, as developed through SPOT, with 
the SPICE initiative in 2018***. 
A robust methodology,  
co-created with experts
To create the tool, L’Oréal convened a panel of 11 international 
experts, who contributed to developing the methodology – in 
line with European Product Environmental Footprint standards 
– in order to ensure that the final methodology would lead to a 
relevant and robust assessment of impacts. 
For the social element, L’Oréal worked with a panel of nine 
renowned experts in social life cycle analysis to establish the 
first methodology to calculate the social impact of cosmetics. 
In terms of environmental impact measurement, the SPOT tool 
integrates lifecycle analysis methodologies as well as the 
concept of ‘planetary boundaries’ developed by teams at the 
Stockholm Resilience Centre. These were used within SPOT to 
consider the diverse environmental impacts of a product in 
relation to the world’s environmental challenges.
A means of improving products’ social  
and environmental profile
100% of the products created or renovated in 2019*  
– 2,180 products – were evaluated using SPOT, which is now 
completely integrated into the design and launch process  
for new products, and allows L’Oréal to:
•  simulate diverse design options in order to assess their 
impact on the environment and society, and identify 
potential opportunities for improvement;
•  quantify the impact reduction across every aspect of the 
product and follow progress on four areas of improvement: 
packaging, the footprint of the formula, the proportion  
of renewable ingredients sourced sustainably or derived 
from green chemistry, and the social benefit of the product.
Informing consumers
The Group’s teams are now working to make the SPOT 
product assessments accessible through a social and 
environmental display system that is relevant for consumers 
and in line with European recommendations on the subject. 
Some of the Group's brands will start adopting this display 
mechanism from 2020.
18

By the end of 2020, we will have improved the 
environmental and social profile of 100% of our new 
products. We will communicate the performance of 
these products to consumers, in order to encourage 
them to make sustainable consumption choices.
Improvement plans continue  
across L’Oréal brands 
Since the launch of the Sharing Beauty With All programme  
in 2013, each brand within the Group has assessed its 
environmental footprint, analysing its portfolio of formulas and 
its packaging, in order to create a sustainable innovation 
plan. The brands identify opportunities for improvement for 
every product range, and develop an action plan.  
In 2019, 89% 
 of the Group’s brands undertook this effort*.
Engaged and engaging campaigns
Conscious of the influential capacity of its brands, L’Oréal 
encourages them to raise awareness and foster action 
action among its partners, customers and consumers on 
today’s major social and environmental issues. Each brand 
must therefore identify a cause of their own and conduct 
awareness campaigns. In 2019, 57% 
 of brands conducted  
this type of activity*.
The brands already engaged in awareness efforts have 
continued their activities. For example, La Roche-Posay 
pursues its actions to prevent skin cancer with its Skin Checker 
campaign. Since 2014, more than 110 million people have 
taken part to check their beauty spots to help prevent 
melanomas. L'Oréal Professionnel is also continuing its 
awareness-raising initiative among hairdressers – its training 
app to help prevent musculoskeletal issues has been 
downloaded more than 35,000 times. The Lancôme brand 
is developing its international programme Write Her Future, 
which fights against illiteracy among young girls, launched 
in 2018, together with the NGO Care. This programme has 
supported more than 13,000 beneficiaries to date. The 
Biotherm brand continues to develop its initiative to protect 
the oceans, and particularly to fight against plastic pollution, 
through its Waterlovers programme. In particular, this 
programme supports the NGO Mission Blue, which protects 
17 million km2 of ocean, called Hope Posts, as well as the 
ecological and scientific expedition Fondation Tara Océan. To 
promote the circular economy, Biotherm has also committed 
to ensuring that 100% of its plastic packaging is reusable or 
recyclable by 2025. Finally, the programme Armani Acqua 
for Life launched four new infrastructure projects in 2019 to 
expand access to drinking water in India, China, Kenya and 
Argentina. Since 2010, 217,000 people worldwide have gained 
access to drinking water thanks to €9 million invested by the 
Giorgio Armani brand. 
In 2019, L’Oréal continued to pursue its ‘Trions en beauté’ 
(‘Let’s recycle in beauty’) campaign in France. Launched 
in 2018, it aims to support consumers in separating their 
cosmetic product packaging. In this way, 71 L’Oréal brands 
in France supported the initiative by adding an awareness-
raising banner ‘Prenons le soin de trier’ (‘Let's take the 
time to separate’), along with the dedicated website 
address trionsenbeaute.fr to all their communications 
materials (television, media, posters). The ‘Trions en beauté’ 
campaigns generated 3.5 million views on social media. 
Raising consumer awareness  
of sustainable consumption
KIEHL’S 
A BRAND ACTING TO PROTECT 
THE ENVIRONMENT 
In 2019, the Kiehl’s brand donated a total 
of US$ 800,000 in support of three causes: 
environmental protection, children’s 
wellbeing and HIV/AIDS  research. A highlight 
of the year was the brand’s global partnership 
with singer John Legend around Kiehl’s 
sustainability platform, Kiehl’s Future Made Better, which connects the 
brand’s ongoing efforts in sustainability—through formulation, packaging, 
manufacturing and recycling, and community commitments, to the 
aspirations of Kiehl’s customers. As a symbol of the partnership, Kiehl’s and 
John Legend created a limited edition Rare Earth Mask which benefitted 
environmental organizations globally. To mobilize consumers, they also 
launched the #Better10 social campaign – challenging users to help make 
the world a better place in the 10 minutes it takes for the Rare Earth Mask 
to dry, and sharing their tips and ideas using #better10. 
RAISING AWARENESS AMONG CONSUMERS
57%
of brands conducted a consumer awareness initiative*.
EVALUATION AND REPORTING
89%
of brands have evaluated their social and 
environmental impact and are committed 
to reducing it and reporting their progress*.
  See page 6 for more information on the audit of indicators.
* Percentage calculated compared to consolidated sales for 2018.
MONITORING INDICATORS UP TO 2020
19
PROGRESS REPORT 2019

Promoting access to employment and social inclusion / 21
Joining forces with suppliers to meet the Group’s commitments / 22
Putting employees at the centre of commitments / 23
Sharing its growth with internal and external stakeholders is a priority for L’Oréal. The Group helps 
people from underprivileged communities to gain access to employment through multiple 
programmes, empowers its suppliers to support its sustainability strategy and guarantees  
its employees the best social practices worldwide.
20

By the end of 2020, we will have helped more than 
100,000 people from underprivileged communities 
gain access to employment. To achieve this goal, 
we have developed multiple initiatives: Solidarity 
Sourcing projects, vocational training and the 
inclusion of people with disabilities within our teams.
Empowering people through  
responsible purchasing
The Solidarity Sourcing programme, established in 2010, 
directs a proportion of the Group’s global purchases to 
suppliers who give people who are typically excluded from 
the job market access to work and a sustainable income. 
This includes companies that employ people from 
underprivileged communities, firms that may not typically 
be able to access major international calls for tenders, 
and micro-enterprises.
The Solidarity Sourcing programme is active across all the 
regions where L’Oréal operates and covers all types of 
purchases, including raw materials, contract manufacturing 
and promotional items. In 2019, it enabled 70,912 
 people 
from communities facing social or financial challenges  
to gain access to or retain a job and a decent income. 
This result represents an increase of 25%, or 14,070 more 
beneficiaries than in 2018.
Beauty For a Better Life
The Fondation L’Oréal oversees Beauty For a Better Life,  
a free vocational training programme for beauty sector  
skills that draws on the Group’s expertise in fields such as 
hairdressing and make-up. It supports people in difficult 
living situations, particularly socially and economically 
vulnerable women, victims of conflicts or violence or young 
people who have left home or dropped out of school. 
Active in 26 countries, Beauty For a Better Life, in partnership 
with local NGOs, helped 18,443 
 people, trained during 
the four past years, gain access to gain access to 
employment in 2019.
Including people with disabilities
L’Oréal has developed a global policy to promote the 
inclusion of people with disabilities since 1990, in close 
collaboration with local and international experts including 
associations and NGOs. Since 2015, the Group has been an 
active member of the ILO Global Business and Disability 
Network, the branch of the International Labour 
Organization dedicated to disability issues, and shares its 
best practices. In 2019, the Financial Times ranked L'Oréal in 
the Top 100 of 1,000 European companies evaluated on 
their efforts to promote inclusion.
In 2019, L’Oréal had 1,280 
 disabled employees. To represent 
its brands, L'Oréal chose ambassadors including Théo Curin for 
Biotherm, Grace Wembolua for Saint-Gervais-Mont-Blanc and 
Marie Bochet for L'Oréal Paris. These Paralympic athletes 
undertaking extraordinary journeys are a source of inspiration 
for both employees and consumers.
Promoting access to employment  
and social inclusion
KENYA
BEAUTY, INCLUSION AND 
AWARENESS-RAISING ON ALBINISM
In Kenya, albinism can represent a significant 
barrier to professional integration and can be 
a factor of exclusion. L’Oréal Kenya is working 
to promote inclusion for people affected by 
albinism, in order to help them overcome 
the social and economic obstacles they 
face. Engaged in this field since 2015, the business has already helped 
more than a hundred people, directly or indirectly, particularly thanks 
to training and mentorship provided by employees. In 2019, employees 
dedicated a total of 104 hours of their work time to get involved in this 
effort. There are many initiatives proposed, such as, for example, an 
annual training session for students affected by albinism, which aims 
to help prepare them for the world of work and build their career. 
Awareness-raising campaigns are also conducted among consumers 
on the International Day of Albinism. 
MONITORING INDICATORS UP TO 2020
HIRING PEOPLE  
WITH DISABILITIES*
1,280
people with disabilities 
work for L’Oréal.
TOTAL BENEFICIARIES
90,635
people from 
underprivileged 
communities who 
gained access 
to employment.
  See page 6 for more information on the audit of indicators.
* This indicator takes into account employees who wanted to declare their disability and/or who are officially recognised as disabled by local authorities or by a 
doctor, according to local legislation or practices.
VOCATIONAL TRAINING  
IN THE BEAUTY SECTOR
18,443 
people in difficult social 
or economic situations 
participated in free vocational 
training in the beauty sector 
through the Beauty For a Better 
Life programme, supported  
by the Fondation L’Oréal.
SOLIDARITY SOURCING
70,912
people gained 
access to 
employment.
21
PROGRESS REPORT 2019

See page 6 for more information on the audit of indicators.
*‘Strategic suppliers’ are suppliers whose added value is significant for the Group by contributing to L’Oréal’s strategy through their weight, innovations, shared goals 
and geographical representation.
MONITORING INDICATORS UP TO 2020
Joining forces with suppliers  
to meet the Group’s commitments
SELECTION
87%
of the Group’s strategic suppliers* have been assessed 
and selected based on their environmental and social 
performance. They represent 81% of direct purchases 
(raw materials, packaging and contract manufacturing).
SELF-ASSESSMENT  
96%
of strategic suppliers* have completed
a self-assessment on their sustainability 
policy, with L’Oréal’s support.
ASIA PACIFIC AND AMERICAS
WORKSHOPS TO ENGAGE SUPPLIERS ON CARBON EMISSIONS
In 2019, the Group organised two events called "Spread the Green 
Vibes" in Asia and America to bring suppliers and L’Oréal teams 
together around the theme of sustainability, and more particularly 
the reduction of CO2 emissions. In Asia, L’Oréal has, for the first time, 
shared with 50 key suppliers the objectives and progress of the 
Sharing Beauty With All programme on reducing carbon emissions, 
and its new ambitions for 2030. Workshops on themes as diverse 
as sustainable sourcing, CO2 emissions reduction, and waste and 
water use reduction, enabled participants to discuss and share good 
practices. In America, the 88 participating suppliers, representing 
diverse industries and activities, were also invited to share their 
initiatives on carbon emissions reduction and the positive impact 
that it generates for their communities, together with their goals and 
action plans for a transition towards a low carbon economy. 
By the end of 2020, 100% of our strategic suppliers 
will participate in our sustainability programme. 
We have developed a two-pronged approach: we 
select suppliers on the basis of their environmental 
and social performance, and provide them with 
training tools.
Evaluating suppliers’ environmental  
and social performance
We evaluate and select our suppliers based on five key 
pillars: quality, CR, innovation, supply chain and service,  
and competitiveness. These elements form a global 
assessment framework for all types of purchase.  
The CR pillar represents 20% of the total assessment score 
and is organised by a series of criteria, including:
•  social audits results - In 2019, 1,562 
 social audits were 
conducted, bringing the total number of audits to more 
than 12,400 since 2006; the audit procedure has been 
strengthened, with the questionnaire now taking into 
account additional health, safety and environmental risks, 
in the same way as on L’Oréal sites; 
•  CR policy assessment by Ecovadis – In 2019, 713 suppliers 
were evaluated – or 93 more than in 2018 – on their social, 
environmental and ethical policies, as well as their 
initiatives among their own suppliers. 179 of them are 
strategic suppliers, which represents 96% 
 of the Group’s 
strategic suppliers.
•  capacity to propose responsible products and services 
– this includes everything from green chemistry  
and eco-designed packaging to POS advertising;
•  score achieved through CDP’s programmes;
•  integration of projects such as Solidarity Sourcing  
within their operations.
Helping suppliers to build 
their environmental strategy
L’Oréal provides its suppliers with in-service training tools  
to help them optimise their social and environmental policies. 
With approximately 28% of the Group’s carbon footprint 
arising from its suppliers’ activities, L’Oréal has encouraged 
suppliers to work with CDP, within the scope of the CDP 
Supply Chain programme, since 2009. In this way, suppliers 
are encouraged to develop carbon emissions reduction goals 
and communicate their 2020 action plans (see page 14).  
In 2019, 479 L’Oréal suppliers undertook an initiative of this 
kind (compared to 437 in 2018), which represents 85% of the 
Group’s direct purchases.
The Group has also encouraged its suppliers to join the Water 
Disclosure Project Supply Chain since its launch in 2013. In 
2019, 94 suppliers took part in this (see page 15). Elsewhere, in 
2019, 30 of the Group’s suppliers of paper, palm oil and soy 
participated in the second edition of the Forest Disclosure 
Project Supply Chain (see page 12).
These programmes have enabled L’Oréal to obtain 
an ‘A’ score from CDP, the highest level of performance, 
for its suppliers’ commitment.
22

Putting employees at  
the centre of commitments
MONITORING INDICATORS UP TO 2020
HEALTHCARE*
FINANCIAL SECURITY*
TRAINING***
94%
**
of the Group’s permanent 
employees benefit from 
health cover in line with best 
practices in their country 
of residence.
96%
of the Group’s permanent employees 
benefited from at least one training 
session in 2019.
91%
**
of the Group’s permanent 
employees benefit from financial 
protection in line with best practices 
in the market, in the event of a 
life-changing accident, including 
death or permanent disability.
  See page 6 for more information on the audit of indicators.
*Indicator calculated based on the Group’s total workforce, except the Venezuela division and certain recent acquisitions or new subsidiaries (Ivory Coast, Bangladesh, Modiface).  
**This includes 100% of employees within the L’Oréal Share & Care programme.
***Indicator calculated on the Group’s effective total, except the Venezuela division and certain recent acquisitions or new subsidiaries (Ivory Coast, Bangladesh, 
Modiface, Logocos and Retail Excellence 4).
L’Oréal’s ambition is to provide all of its employees 
with access to health cover, financial protection  
and training, wherever they are in the world. 
Employees also benefit from a working environment 
and office buildings with improved environmental 
and social impacts.
L’Oréal Share & Care programme: 
an accelerator of social progress
Launched in 2013, the L’Oréal Share & Care programme  
was implemented with the ambitious aim of achieving  
a common foundation for social protection in all the countries 
where the Group has subsidiaries, and for L’Oréal to become 
one of the most high-performing companies in each 
regional market across all four areas of the programme:
•  Care: healthcare, with health cover and access  
to high-quality care for employees and their families;
•  Protect: a social protection scheme to provide financial 
support in the event of an unexpected life accident;
•  Balance: parenthood, to enable them to live maternity  
and paternity to the full, while pursuing their careers;
•  Enjoy: quality of life at work.
In 2019, the Group pursued the second stage of the 
programme, established in 2017, with new global objectives 
for the end of 2020, such as paternity leave with a minimum 
of ten days remunerated at 100%. By the end of 2019, all the 
Group’s subsidiaries had adopted this measure, and some 
countries had even gone beyond that: for example, France 
and the United Kingdom have moved to six weeks, and the 
United States has introduced an eight-week paternity leave, 
which saw them named in the 2019 ranking of ‘Fatherly's 
Best Place to Work for Dads’. 
Prioritising learning and development
For L’Oréal, helping every employee to develop professionally is 
both central to driving performance and a question  of 
responsibility. The Group has committed to ensuring  that 100% of 
employees will benefit from at least one training session annually 
by the end of 2020. In 2019, this proportion rose to 96% 
.  
The online training portal, My Learning, is integral to 
accelerating this ambition. Available in 27 languages, it 
counted in 2019 nearly 52,000 regular users. Since 2017, 
employees have been able to follow the MOOCs offered by 
more than 150 universities worldwide. Overall, there were  
4,100 registrations, and 26,800 hours of training were delivered, 
with an exceptional 28% certification rate. The Group’s Digital 
Upskilling initiative, a key focus of its digital strategy, which aims 
to develop digital competencies essential to tomorrow’s 
competitiveness, has reached more than 33,000 employees 
since 2015.
Promoting employee engagement
Since 2009, L’Oréal has engaged its employees through a day 
of volunteering activities called Citizen Day. For its tenth 
anniversary in 2019, which involved some 27,500 participants 
and 156,200 volunteering hours across 61 countries, this event 
supported 969 organisations. From an environmental 
perspective, L’Oréal is pursuing the implementation of its 
Working Sustainably programme, which aims to reduce the 
environmental footprint of its administrative sites and research 
centres, and engage employees in adopting sustainable 
behaviours in the workplace. 52 L’Oréal businesses 
participated in the Group’s second Sustainability Week, which 
took place in November 2019 and focused on reducing waste.
PORTUGAL
SHARE & CARE: 
HEALTH AND WELLBEING AT WORK
In the context of the Share & Care programme, in 2019 Portugal began 
diverse efforts to make further advances on employee health and 
wellbeing at work. An app enabling online consultations with medical 
professionals was shared with all employees so that they could consult 
a doctor anywhere, at any time. Free skin consultations were offered 
in stores, and doctors as well as a nutritionist are also providing their 
services within L’Oréal Portugal’s sites. To improve wellbeing at work, 
mental health and mindfulness exercises were offered every two weeks. 
Finally, L’Oréal Portugal has also promoted flexible working, i.e. the 
possibility to work outside the office, for several days per month. All 
these efforts reinforced existing measures to take care of employees 
and support them in their life projects. 
23
PROGRESS REPORT 2019

The Carbon Balanced project: 
towards a low carbon business
Brazil: 
L’Oréal distinguished as a major 
sustainability actor
In the face of the climate emergency, 
the Group has committed to balance its 
residual CO2 emissions (Scope 1 and 2, 
downstream transport and finished 
products) by the end of 2020, in order to 
become a Carbon Balanced company.
This ambition reinforces L’Oréal’s low 
carbon strategy, which takes a dual 
approach to reducing the Group’s 
carbon footprint – lowering the emissions 
linked to its industrial and logistics 
activities while balancing residual 
emissions.
To pursue and evaluate this initiative, 
L’Oréal has developed, with the support 
of a committee of independent experts 
- carbon specialists - the Carbon 
Balanced Program Framework, a 
methodology designed to identify, 
develop and monitor projects. This 
document is shared with all the Group’s 
suppliers, project developers and 
relevant verification organisations. The 
projects launched and evaluated by the 
Group are structured around three 
pillars, with methodologies developed 
by international standards and the Kyoto 
Protocol – improving energy efficiency, 
promoting productive and low carbon 
farming practices, and developing 
forestry and agroforestry programmes.
For example, since 2016, L’Oréal has 
supported the efforts of the social 
enterprise Nafa Naana, which has 
enabled more than 5,000 women 
collectors of shea nuts in the south-west 
region of Burkina Faso to gain access to 
improved cooking equipment. This helps 
to fight against fuel poverty and its 
consequences on household income 
and deforestation. In 2019, the project 
prevented the emission of more than 
10,500 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, and 
avoided the felling of 5,000 tonnes of 
timber traditionally taken from forests.
Also in 2019, L’Oréal pursued an 
exchange with external experts on 
questions relating to the mechanisms of 
carbon insetting, and on accounting 
methodologies for reducing Scope 3 
emissions, by participating in the Value 
Chain Intervention Consortium hosted by 
the Gold Standard. The eight energy 
and forestry projects implemented since 
2015 have enabled the generation of 
carbon gains of up to 116,720 tonnes of 
CO2 equivalent.
L’Oréal Brazil has received for the 
third year running the double award 
from Guia Exame de 
Sustentabilidade, one of the most 
significant sustainability accolades 
in Brazil. The company is considered 
as one of the most responsible 
businesses in the ‘Consumer goods’ 
category, as well as ‘The best 
performing company on managing 
and valuing biodiversity’ in Brazil. 
Meanwhile, the business has also 
been recognised by the Firjan* 
Environmental Prize for both 
distinguishing itself in the fight 
against climate change, and for all 
its efforts to preserve water. The 
Research and Innovation site’s ‘filter 
garden’ is one of L’Oréal Brazil’s 
flagship initiatives – this garden 
recovers and treats rainwater and 
used water from laboratories and 
bathroom facilities in a natural way, 
so that the water can be used again. 
Elsewhere, all L’Oréal Brazil’s entities 
are using 100% renewable energy, 
avoiding the emission of 2,000 tonnes 
of CO2 in 2019. Some 2,400 m² of solar 
panels have been installed, for 
example. The CO2 emissions linked to 
transport have also been reduced by 
23% between 2011 and 2019**.
* Rio de Janeiro State Industries Association.
** In gram of CO2 per sales unit per km.
24

25
25
In 2019, L’Oréal was rewarded 
with an AAA rating (on a scale 
of AAA to CCC) in the ranking 
of MSCI Indexes on ESG, 
governance and human rights*.
Reporting:  
a recognised performance
Every year, we communicate transparently, providing data on our corporate social and 
environmental responsibility strategy, challenges and results in three reports: the Universal Registration 
Document, L’Oréal’s annual report to the United Nations Global Compact (UN Global Compact), 
and its Sharing Beauty With All Progress Report. More than ever in 2019, L’Oréal’s CR performance 
and its reporting via robust, reliable indicators verified by statutory auditors, have enabled the Group 
to be recognised by the most demanding global organisations in this area. 
In 2019, for the fourth year running, 
L’Oréal achieved an ‘A’ score in all 
three of the rankings conducted 
by CDP, for its efforts on climate 
protection, sustainable water 
management and fighting against 
deforestation. L’Oréal is the only 
company in the world to have 
been recognised for achieving  
the highest level of performance 
for four consecutive years. CDP  
is an independent, international 
organisation that evaluates 
companies’ environmental 
performance.
In December 2019, L’Oréal was 
listed in both indices of the Ethibel 
Sustainability Index: Excellence 
Europe and Excellence Global.
The Ethisphere Institute, global 
leader in defining and advancing 
the standards of ethical business 
practices, ranked L’Oréal for  
the tenth time as one of the 
‘World’s Most Ethical Companies’.
L’Oréal supports the UN Global 
Compact, and in 2015, joined  
its LEAD programme, which 
brings together the companies 
that are the most committed  
to sustainability.
In December 2019, the 
extrafinancial rating agency 
Vigeo Eiris once again included 
L’Oréal in multiple Euronext Vigeo 
Eiris indices.
For the eighth year running, 
the extra-financial rating agency 
ISS-Oekom presented L’Oréal  
with Prime status, which 
recognises the best performing 
companies.
This ethical reputation index 
ranked L’Oréal as No. 1 globally. 
This ranking comprises world's 
581 largest listed companies and 
takes into account environmental, 
social, governance and human 
rights topics.
Prepared and edited by L’Oréal’s Corporate Responsibility Department.
Photo credits: © Paolo Verzone / Agence Vu / L'Oréal (cover) © Thomas Lainé / L’Oréal (p.4) © Paolo Verzone / Agence Vu / L'Oréal (p.8) © Garnier/ L’Oréal (p.9) 
© Paco Santamaria / L'Oréal (p.13) © L'Oréal / DR (p.14)  © Cyril Abad / CAPA Pictures (p.16) © ROSSandHELEN photographers (p.17) © Kiehl’s/L’Oréal 
© Andreas van Bergerem / L'Oréal R&I (p.20) © ASK/ L’Oréal (p.21) © Samuel Allard / L'Oréal (p.24) © X.
Accessible version by:
The Olin paper on which the 2019 Progress Report is printed is 100% recyclable and FSC®-certified (Forest Stewardship Council).
* The use by L'Oréal of any MSCI ESG Research LLC or its affiliates (“MSCI”) data, and the use of MSCI logos, trademarks, service marks or index names herein, do not constitute a sponsorship, 
endorsement, recommendation, or promotion of L'Oréal by MSCI.  MSCI services and data are the property of MSCI or its information providers, and are provided ‘as-is’ and without warranty.  
MSCI names and logos are trademarks or service marks of MSCI.
PROGRESS REPORT 2019

Incorporated in France 
as a ‘Société Anonyme’ 
with a registered capital 
 of €111,855,722.20
632 012 100 R.C.S. Paris
Headquarters: 
41, rue Martre 
92117 Clichy Cedex  
France 
Tel: +33 (0)1 47 56 70 00 
Registered office: 
14, rue Royale 
75008 Paris  
France
www.loreal.com/loreal-sharing-beauty-with-all