L’Oréal's material pollution issues concern air and water. Air pollution is identified as material both in the upstream value chain and within the Company’s own operations.
Water pollution is considered to be material throughout the value chain. To address this Group-wide issue, L’Oréal published a Responsible Water Use policy in April 2025, setting out the guiding principles, based on several fundamental pillars. L’Oréal is aiming to minimise the impact of its products and operations on water quality. This includes continuously raising the quality of wastewater discharged from its factories, working on improving the biodegradability of ingredients and formulas to reduce their end-of-life environmental footprint, eliminating microplastics and reducing Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC), in particular by prohibiting the inclusion of any new ingredient classed as SVHC from the raw materials portfolio and by reformulating products that may still contain them today. The policy also aims to reduce water pollution in its upstream value chain by working with supply chain partners, and to contribute to the conservation and restoration of ecosystems (in territories where the Group sources key raw materials) by supporting supplier efforts to implement nature-based solutions and regenerative agriculture, as well as anything other levers that may help reduce pollution. In addition, the Mutual Ethical Commitment Letter (MECL) that suppliers(1) must sign requires adherence to fundamental human rights linked to access to water, sanitation and hygiene.
This overarching policy is deployed via detailed policies for each value chain segment, including the EHS policy for operations (4.3.2.1), the Sustainable Purchasing Policy for upstream pollution (4.3.2.2), and the Research & Innovation policy linked to downstream pollution (4.3.2.3).
This section presents L'Oréal's overarching EHS policy, with a focus on pollution.
L'Oréal's Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) policy is designed to reduce the Group's environmental footprint while ensuring the safety of employees and partners. By applying strict standards across all sites and conducting regular audits, the Group ensures that these standards are adhered to, both internally and by subcontractors and suppliers. The key aspects of this policy include:
Suppliers are also audited to check compliance with the Group's environmental and safety requirements.
In the event of an accident, contingency plans for each site are activated and employees have received relevant training in this area, subject to regular checks by the EHS team and insurers and to EHS audits. When a significant risk is identified or standards impose specific requirements, an in-depth assessment is carried out and immediate mitigation action plans are rolled out.
(1) Eligible Suppliers represent 100% of the value of purchases for the manufacture of finished products and 90% of the value of other types of purchases.
