Non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) are a variety of volatile carbon compounds, with the exception of methane. These compounds come from both natural and man-made sources, including for example, the use of solvents and industrial processes.
L'Oréal is working to identify and control the risks associated with NMVOCs. Firstly, L'Oréal's facilities ensure that they comply with the local requirements set by operating permits. In addition, a solvent management plan is put in place and revised each year at the most exposed facilities, covering more than 90% of solvents used, which is used to monitor NMVOC emissions. This methodology provides a comprehensive view of the Group’s discharges and facilitates the implementation of corrective measures.
L'Oréal's Sustainable Purchasing Policy (see section 4.4.2.2) is based on working closely with suppliers to limit the environmental footprint in the value chain. Two main objectives have been defined to reduce upstream pollution:
L'Oréal's Research & Innovation (R&I) policy puts sustainable innovation at the heart of its environmental strategy. This includes efforts made to formulate new products from more sustainable raw materials as well as the reformulation of existing products to help minimise their environmental footprint, especially as regards upstream pollution. For the environmental design of its products, L'Oréal uses the Sustainable Product Optimisation Tool (SPOT), which is based on life cycle analysis.
For all new products, SPOT measures the improvement in relation to an average of existing products, while all updated products are compared to the previous product. All product formulator teams use this tool, for example to assess and reduce the impact on water whenever new formulas are created (see section 4.4).
In line with the Group’s Responsible Water Use policy, L’Oréal specifically aims to monitor and maximise the biodegradability of formulas(1) in order to reduce their impact on downstream pollution. The aim is to enable raw materials in those formulas to decompose quickly and completely in nature through exposure to micro-organisms, in line with recognised international standards such as OECD 301 or equivalent ISO. New raw materials screened for the catalogue are also assessed for their impact on living organisms and ecosystems.
In addition, the R&I teams work to change the way raw materials are sourced, processed and used through the Green Sciences programme (see section 4.5) built on four pillars: sustainable agriculture, biotechnology and fermentation, environmentally designed extraction and physical transformation processes, and green chemistry. This policy is overseen by the Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of Research, Innovation and Technology, who sets the related strategy. The Group's R&I teams work with the Divisions and Brands to accelerate product transformation and environmental design.
Pollution of water: Each facility is equipped with a monitoring system for real-time tracking of regulated indicators, such as COD, pH and effluent temperature, as well as substances that could disrupt treatment facilities. This system not only detects the risk of overshoots, but also prevents any breaches in compliance and triggers the necessary corrective actions. Local sites also carry out annual self-assessments and internal audits to ensure optimal management of industrial effluents. Furthermore, thanks to the Waterloop concept (see section 4.4.2.1), all of L'Oréal's production sites will be able to improve their water treatment and recycling capacities. L'Oréal emphasises achieving the internal objective of limiting COD to 1,000 mg per litre of effluent, starting from the design phase of Waterloop projects, in order to achieve the trajectory defined by the Group.
Pollution of air: L’Oréal aims to minimise its non-methane volatile organic compound (NMVOC) emissions into the atmosphere. Each year, L’Oréal assesses NMVOC emissions resulting from the use of solvents on its production sites. This assessment is based on certain local restrictions (such as operating permits in France) and a requirement introduced by the Group. Internal data enables L’Oréal to identify the sites where the use of solvents is greatest, and the largest consumers are required to quantify their NMVOC emissions using a Solvent Management Plan, which includes an action plan to reduce air emissions.
