SUEZ And L'oreal Sign A Global Memorandum Of Understanding On Environmental Performance And Resource Management At L'oreal Group Sites

SUEZ and L’Oréal have signed a MoU for the continuous improvement of environmental performance and the optimisation of resource management throughout the Group’s value chain. The partnership agreement, signed for an initial period of three years and renewable, covers all L’Oréal’s industrial, administrative and research centres, in France and worldwide.

Within the scope of this agreement, SUEZ and L’Oréal have decided to promote innovative solutions to favour sustainable production, to work together to tackle climate change, protect oceans and water resources, and preserve natural resources and biodiversity, and to promote the circular economy.

To accomplish this, SUEZ will work with L’Oréal to develop solutions, based on the excellent results already achieved, to:

• attain a neutral or positive “water footprint” for some L’Oréal sites, particularly by optimising water management in its entirety, its treatment and reuse, thereby protecting the water resource;
• help improve the renewable energy mix, boost and increase the number of “carbon neutral” L’Oréal sites by measuring, monitoring and optimising energy consumption and operating water and waste treatment systems and units, and by implementing energy solutions based, for example, on local biomass from waste streams;
• increase reuse and recycling of waste, by boosting material recovery at all L’Oréal sites.

In the longer term, SUEZ and L’Oréal will work together to identify and develop operational innovations that could further improve resource protection and regional integration, particularly by focusing on biodiversity, ecodesign, digitalisation, material reuse and recovery in L’Oréal’s production process, “factory of the future” concepts and the circular economy.

Barbara Lavernos, Executive Vice-President Operations at L’Oréal, said, “For a long time now, L’Oréal has been committed to reducing its environmental impacts with renowned performance on a global scale. In 2016, the CDP awarded us a triple A rating for our water management, carbon impact and work to tackle deforestation. This partnership with SUEZ will enable us to take our work even further by using the best technology and innovative solutions to make our environmental performance even better. We are convinced that, through this partnership, SUEZ will provide their dedicated experience to help us achieve this goal.”

Click here for an in-depth interview with Barbara Lavernos: https://youtu.be/eYlp5p_5m2Y

Jean Louis Chaussade, CEO of SUEZ, added, “Through this global partnership with L’Oréal, SUEZ confirms its leadership in resource management for industry, one of our group’s strategic growth drivers. We will do our utmost to help L’Oréal achieve its goals for sustainable development and the circular economy.”

About L'Oréal 
L’Oréal has devoted itself to beauty for over 100 years. With its unique international portfolio of 34 diverse and complementary brands, the Group generated sales amounting to 25.8 billion euros in 2016 and employs 89,300 people worldwide. As the world’s leading beauty company, L’Oréal is present across all distribution networks: mass market, department stores, pharmacies and drugstores, hair salons, travel retail, branded retail and e-commerce.
Research and innovation, and a dedicated research team of 3,870 people, are at the core of L’Oréal’s strategy, working to meet beauty aspirations all over the world. L’Oréal’s sustainability commitment for 2020 “Sharing Beauty With All” sets out ambitious sustainable development objectives across the Group’s value chain. www.loreal.com

About SUEZ 
We are at the dawn of the resource revolution. In a world facing high demographic growth, runaway urbanisation and the shortage of natural resources, securing, optimising and renewing resources is essential to our future. SUEZ (Paris: SEV, Brussels: SEVB) supplies drinking water to 92 million people, delivers wastewater treatment services to 65 million, recovers 16 million tons of waste each year and produces 7 TWh of local and renewable energy. With 82,536 employees, SUEZ, which is present on all five continents, is a key player in the sustainable management of resources. SUEZ generated total revenues of €15.3 billion in 2016.