…to reduce the environmental impact of labels.
Because the planet is worth it.
L’Oreal and Avery Dennison have already collaborated in the past to meet their sustainability ambitions. That earlier collaboration produced a comprehensive Avery Dennison Greenprint assessment showing how thinner label materials can reduce environmental impacts. It also resulted in the development of Avery Dennison Greenprint, a screening lifecycle tool, that launched in 2010 and was the first of its kind in the label industry.
Now, L’Oreal Americas and Avery Dennison are collaborating to identify and reduce the environmental impacts of packaging labels throughout the entire label lifecycle.
David Wolbach, assistant vice president – Packaging Hair – L’Oreal Americas, commented, “We strongly believe in a sustainable supply chain, and this is ingrained in our business practices. However, to achieve the ultimate goal of reduced-impact materials, we cannot work alone. It is essential that all facets of the value chain – material suppliers, printers, consumers, and recyclers – collaborate together to establish a clear and transparent low-impact product stream globally.”
When chairman and chief executive of L'Oréal Group, Jean-Paul Agon, launched L’Oreal’s Sharing Beauty with All 2020 commitment in October 2013, he explained, “L’Oréal has a strong legacy in sustainability and a thorough ambition for the future. We are proud to announce “Sharing Beauty With All”, our sustainability commitment for 2020. We believe consumers are at the heart of our sustainability drive and we want to reach the next billion consumers while making a positive impact on the world. By accelerating sustainable innovation within our business, and harnessing the power of our brands to inform consumers, we will raise awareness about sustainability and encourage consumers to make more sustainable choices.”
L’Oréal’s ambition to win one billion new consumers included a commitment to produce more but with less impact and to engage consumers to make sustainable choices by offering them products that are both sustainable and desirable. In order to achieve this, L’Oréal committed to improving every part of its value chain, from research to operations, while sharing its growth with the communities it touches.
The company's sustainability targets include the continued improvement of its packaging’s environmental profile. To meet this commitment, L’Oreal is considering packaging in the most comprehensive way possible, including labels and their precise environmental impact.
According to L’Oreal, the Avery Dennison Greenprint method allows them to look at impact of its label materials, including the raw material extraction, manufacturing, and ultimately the label’s end-of-life. This approach is able to identify where the biggest environmental impacts lie and to devise strategies on how best to mitigate these impacts.
Working with the Greenprint method has led L’Oreal to decide to transition the labels for some of its leading products to Avery Dennison’s Global MDO substrate, to achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption and waste generated in disposal.
“It is equally important that we have the necessary information available to understand the environmental impacts of the materials we are using. This helps us immensely in our material selection process,” Wolbach stated.
By switching from Avery Dennison’s Global Co-Ex film product to Global MDO, L’Oreal has reduced environmental impacts from 7% to 19% across the categories of fossil material, water use, energy use, GHG emissions and solid waste.
Rosalyn Bandy, Avery Dennison sustainability manager, North America, added, “Improvements in sustainability require collaboration across the value chain, including converters recommending the right material to brands. L’Oreal’s leadership in improving the environmental profile of packaging is driving the value chain to work closer together.”
