Social Responsibility And Sustainability Of L’Oréal Company
L’Oréal is the largest and most profitable cosmetic company in the world, employing 78, 000 people across the globe. Yet, at the same time, L’Oréal also manages to be rated as one of the 2015 Top Socially Responsible Corporations by Canadian Business, mostly due to the 2013 commencement of their Sharing Beauty will All initiative. This ongoing initiative is a series of committed goals, in partnership with the Women4Climate charity, to create jobs in underprivileged communities and improve the environmental impact of every L’Oréal product by 2020.
The intent of the Sharing Beauty with All initiative is to share the company’s success with all L’Oréal stake holders including employees, and communities. Employees are benefitted by the initiatives commitment to creating more job opportunities. 67, 533 jobs have been created directly for underprivileged people, regardless of their country of residence, disabilities, or financial standing with included health care, financial protection, and yearly training programs.
As well, L’Oréal’s commitment to giving back to their communities lies with them cleaning up the environment that we all share. This is accomplished with programs such as recyclable or refillable packaging to reduce plastic waste, minimizing water waste in production, employing renewable energy sources such as the 4000-panel solar array installed at their Arkansas factory, and their Burkina Faso project. The company’s ambitious goal to source 100% of their renewable resources from sustainable sources by 2020 began with complying to fair trade principles in Burkina Faso where the majority of their shea butter is produced. The 22, 000 person operation involved harvesting shea butter nuts then roasting them in a wood burning oven that created 100, 000 hectares or deforestation to keep burning. In an act that promoted positive working conditions, lowered carbon emissions, guaranteed ethically sources ingredients, and reduced deforestation, Sharing Beauty with All replaced the wood burning ovens with cleaner, more sustainable cookstoves and provided the training to operate them.
Concerns about the Sharing Beauty with All initiative mostly lie with the massive scale of the project- ambitious goals and a publicized due date of 2020 could result in negative press if their commitments are not met. Concerned stakeholders may be suppliers and investors worried that a complete over-hall of production practices will cost valuable time in installation and training and that this monetary commitment will not result in any increase in sales.
However, since 2005, L’Oréal has reduced their CO2 emissions by 67% and within the same timeframe has seen a jump in production volume by 29%. This is proof that the project is not wasting money but instead earning it by lowering production costs and increasing efficiency as well as increasing employee satisfaction and environmental sustainability.
