L’Oréal Canada launches product impact labelling system, trying to improve sustainability

MONTREAL — L’Oréal Canada announced the launch of L’Oréal’s Product Impact Labeling system in Canada. The initiative provides consumers with science-based, transparent information about a product’s environmental and social impact, compared to other L’Oréal products in the same category. This transparency gives consumers the power to make sustainable choices, which 80% of Canadians have expressed a desire to do.

The survey conducted by Leger also revealed that 69% of Canadian consumers expect companies to provide information about the environmental impact of a product. L’Oréal’s Product Impact Labeling System provides a product’s “Environmental Score”, ranked on a scale of A to E, which is the cumulative score of 14 planetary impact factors measured at every stage of a product’s life cycle from ingredient production, packaging and manufacturing of the product, to consumer use (for example the average quantity of hot water used during showering), biodegradability and end-of-life packaging disposal.

L’Oréal Canada brands Garnier, La Roche-Posay and Biotherm are the first to launch the Product Impact Labelling System, which will be available on their websites starting in April 2023, and gradually displayed on products through a QR code. The Product Impact Labeling System will roll-out progressively across L’Oréal Canada’s brands.

L’Oréal will continue to improve its best practices on transparency and sustainable consumption as part of its sustainability commitments for 2030, L’Oréal for the Future, and the 2021 “EU Green Consumption Pledge.” The company has committed to sharing the learnings of the impact labeling initiative with the 64 members of the EcoBeautyScore Consortium, aiming to develop an industry-wide environmental impact assessment and scoring system for cosmetics products. L’Oréal has committed to transitioning from its own product impact labeling to the EcoBeautyScore once it becomes available.