L’Oréal R&I’s ‘Green Sciences’ approach applies R&D to achieve SDGs
L’Oréal Research & Innovation (R&I) has established a product development approach for helping to reduce their impact on the environment. This approach is called “Green Sciences” and it is the driving force behind the comprehensive sustainability programs that L’Oréal Group is driving. Here we take a look at some examples of the initiatives they’re trying out both in Japan and worldwide.
In June 2020, L’Oréal Group announced their new sustainability program and 2030 vision “L’Oréal for the Future” based on their SBTs (Science Based Targets) that they established in respect of planetary boundaries. This program includes not only direct initiatives towards solving urgent environmental and societal problems, but also concrete numeric targets for realizing a more inclusive society through reducing the environmental footprint in all areas of L’Oréal’s business, including their suppliers and consumers.
As part of these initiatives, L’Oréal has committed to reforms through “Green Sciences”. This means the realization of carbon neutrality in all of their global bases by the end of 2025 and also, 95% of the ingredients in L’Oréal’s product will be bio-based, derived from abundant minerals, or from the circular process by the end of 2030.
“Green Sciences” is the original approach of L’Oréal’s research and development division, Research & Innovation (R&I). R&I possesses three global research centers in France and a total of 37 research centers around the world. The division has high prospects with their motivation being to create “a beautiful future” developed by science and nature, creating harmony for sustainability.
“Green Sciences” consists of the following three areas. The first is “green cultivation” which refers to the latest agricultural expertise being used to produce biomass, taking into consideration the environment. The second is “green transformation” where environmentally friendly green chemistry and biotechnology are utilized to develop raw materials and ingredients. Finally, “green formulas” where the raw materials and ingredients produced as above are combined in order to develop products that are sustainable and highly functional.
We asked Takae Miki, Raw Materials Division Manager, Nihon L’Oréal Research & Innovation Center, about what kind of measures were being carried out in each field.
Raw material production and green cultivation to lower environmental burden
As Miki explains: “Green Cultivation refers to growing and harvesting plants that will become the raw materials for cosmetics in a way where the impacts on the environment are as small as possible. It’s the production of biomass where plant-derived resources are recycled and waste is reduced. One example is the growing of Centella asiatica that L’Oréal has been conducting since 2016 through a joint project in Madagascar.”
This project was in cooperation with the Union for Ethical Bio Trade. L’Oréal collaborated with local suppliers to help preserve wild plants as well as to ensure raw material quality and traceability. The initiative also ensured that the female workers who picked the Centella asiatica leave received fair wages and that their human rights were respected.
At the Japan R&I, while they don’t directly develop ingredients, they help to strengthen relations with sustainable cosmetics raw material suppliers. Miki explains that she is working with external companies to search for raw materials that can be used in future formulas. These materials include an extract from yeast obtained from the double cherry blossom and an extract from peony flowers that are grown in an environmentally friendly way.
Green chemistry holds the key to green transformation
Miki says that there are three main keywords for green transformation. These are “biotechnology”, which is represented by fermentation and brewing technologies that make use of naturally existing micro-organisms such as yeasts, and also enzymes as biological tools. “green-extraction” which, instead of using machines that consume chemical solvents and electricity, uses environmentally friendly extraction processes such as crushing and squeezing by hand, and “green chemistry” which is component synthesizing done through environmental footprint-reducing techniques.
One such example is L’Oréal’s own ingredient Pro-Xylane®︎, created using the latest dermatological research and technology. Pro-Xylane®︎ is currently being used in the skincare products of different brands of L’Oréal. Its origin is xylose, a material derived from the scrap beech tree used in Europe’s paper industry. Only water is used as the reaction solvent, and its manufacturing has been reduced down to a two-step process to minimize the amount of waste from the synthesis process as much as possible.
In terms of upcycling — the concept of reusing materials that are thrown out as garbage — there’s the example of a Kiehl’s product that uses extract from the husks of superfood quinoa. L’Oréal found there were “cleansing abilities” in these husks that usually get disposed of in the process of food manufacturing, and in 2016 they launched their “Kiehl’s DS Micro-Peel Concentrate” that consists of the extract of the quinoa husks.
Japan-developed green cleansing oil by shu uemura
Says Miki: “One example of development in Japan is a cleansing oil by shu uemura. The popular “Ultime8 Cleansing Oil” is 98% made up of naturally derived ingredients and has a 95% biodegradable formula*1.”
As a brand has its origin in Japan, shu uemura maintains a stance of respecting Japanese values towards tradition, nature, and resources, and in its products, the brand incorporates only the necessary ingredients and amounts that are in harmony with nature and human society. Their ingredients are grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticides by Japanese farmers that adopt sustainable methods, and they use plant-derived ingredients that are picked by hand. The brand develops formulas with high biodegradability and which decompose in nature by micro-organisms. Their “Botanic Cleansing Oil” that uses yuzu from Kouchi Prefecture has a biodegradability of 99%*2.
*1, *2: Based on OECD301 or equivalent tests.
On top of this, the bottles of their cleansing oils are 100% made of PCR (post-consumer recycled) plastic, which is made up of waste plastic collected inside of Japan. PCR plastic is a recycled material made from used plastic such as pet bottles. Apart from their pumps, the cleansing oil bottles are completely recyclable, which helps to reduce energy and fossil fuel consumption, and their plastic is able to be reprocessed after use. For this purpose, customers who bring their used cleansing oil bottles to stores are given points that can be exchanged for gifts, and the brand calls widely for collecting used bottles among their clients.
Naturalness criterion for earth-friendly development
L’Oréal has also established a “naturalness” index for their ingredients, which conforms to ISO16128, the indicators that help R&I researchers to design and formulate the products as sustainable as possible. This index consists of an origin index based on the material’s way of harvest, its growth environment, and whether wild or cultivated, and a denaturation index that looks at what type of reaction was used and which kind of solvent has been used throughout the process from harvesting to the final form. Each of the roughly 8,000 raw materials that L’Oréal handles is given a (numeric) score that represents its level of naturalness.
For example, if some wild plants that grow in the vicinity of a raw material processing factory are handpicked and turned into raw materials just by mashing them in a bowl, they remain in a more natural condition and the energy spent on transportation and processing is less. The simpler the process is, the higher the score. Through this system, researchers are using scientific evidence to find out what raw materials to combine when developing formulas so that more environmentally friendly product development can become possible.
“Green Sciences” play a significant role in supporting L’Oréal for the Future, which aims to bring the whole of L’Oréal Group together to realize higher sustainability goals. “Green Sciences” are being developed by a 4,000-strong team of researchers across R&I centers around the world, and the works are being conducted through a huge global network. In one project of specific subjects, specialized researchers all over the world are involved and branches with a broader range of diversity.
Miki explains: “For technologies related to such fields as sunscreen and the microbiome, which are fields that Japan excels at, we’re thinking of trying to catch the trends in the Japanese market while also expanding globally, for example within Asia. At the same time, we will also actively work towards presenting the concept of “Green Sciences” and actual research results and initiatives at academic conferences and also explaining it to our consumers in a way easy to understand.”
Text: Ching Li Tor
Original text (Japanese): Ayako Sogo
