Under the L’Oréal Group’s global sustainability targets geared towards fighting climate change, sustainable water management, respecting biodiversity and the preservation of natural resources, Garnier launches Green Beauty – an end-to-end approach to sustainability in beauty retail aimed at reducing its environmental impact at every stage of the value chain – from education, purchasing and recycling.
“The past few months has been a very exciting journey for us at L’Oréal, as we accelerated our transformation to creating a more sustainable world for beauty, with a focus on environmental stewardship and social empowerment. Green Beauty is our springboard to get our partners, and most especially our consumers, involved in this important cause. We believe that through collective action, we can meet our bold ambitions faster, and give our consumers the information to make more sustainable choices,” said Supriya Singh, Country Managing Director of L’Oréal Philippines.
Garnier is driving the wheel for L’Oréal’s sustainability endeavours, ensuring products contain more than 90% natural origin ingredients, certified organic product ranges, and vegan formulas. The green beauty brand will be championing sustainable eCommerce through Green Parcel, Green Spaces and Sachet Recycling with in-store retail partners and will continue to push for the empowerment of consumers through Green Education.
Addressing eCommerce Packaging Waste with Green Parcel
In partnership with Shopee, Sain Bags and Econest, Garnier is the first beauty brand to launch sustainable e-commerce packaging made of honeycomb, cassava starch and other biodegradable materials. Each purchase made from the official Garnier store on Shopee will be specially packed using eco-friendly sources and materials to reduce their overall packaging footprint.
As an alternative to bubble wraps, Garnier has partnered with EcoNest Philippines for the use of the Geami honeycomb protective packaging solution. The patented 3D die cut paper is made from FSC certified virgin kraft paper with an interleaf tissue that provides excellent surface protection to prevent possible damages and abrasion when wrapping and handling parcels. The recycling rate of paper at 85.6% greatly outweighs the recycling rate of plastics at 42%. Not only will it take the honeycomb material 2-6 weeks to biodegrade in nature, but this eco-friendly alternative is also fully renewable which makes it one of the most sustainable solutions available in the market.
In partnership with SainBags, the packaging will be made from cassava that are made from cassava starch and other materials from renewable resources. It is biodegradable and compostable, leaving no toxic residues and causing no damage to our oceans, waterways, land and is harmless to animals and plants. It can safely return to nature in the form of H2O and CO2, and in turn feeds our agriculture, making it part of a truly sustainable lifecycle. It does not contain a trace of plastic, therefore, do not contribute to the micro-plastics problem and takes around 90 days to compost in soil or a body of water, as opposed to hundreds of years for a regular PE bag.
“Our constant search for innovation and reinvention of consumer experience fuels us at Garnier to lead the change in creating a sustainable world of beauty. By assessing how we work and the key areas of our value chain where we can find more sustainable alternatives, we can create a positive impact on the environment and give our consumers a better and more holistic beauty experience,” shared Isabel Falco, Marketing Director of Garnier and L’Oréal Paris Philippines.
“We are deeply honored and excited to partner with the L’Oreal Group on this transformative journey. This is our first partnership with a brand to help further their goals on sustainability. We hope that their global thrust will kickstart a new culture of sustainability in beauty retail and e-tail that will inspire real change across industries. Shopee will provide our utmost support to make this Green Beauty campaign meaningful and successful. With the delivery of every Green Parcel, we also hope to inspire consumers in The Philippines to start thinking about how they can play a role in sustainability, and collectively raise awareness on this important issue,” said Ruoshan Tao, Head of Marketing of Shopee Philippines.
The growth of eCommerce has transcended consumer and industry market expectations during the first few months of lockdown in the Philippines and continues to grow in popularity. Digital consumerism has become a precedent, and with the demand for more accountability across industries, Garnier takes great responsibility in providing consumers with sustainable choices, in hopes to inspire others to act with them.
Sustainable In-Store Experience and Recycling Initiatives
Garnier aims to extend the sustainability experience to its retail partners and shoppers. The brand deploys hundreds of in-store modules such as product hangers and side bins every year to reduce plastic waste. With the Green Spaces initiative, Garnier has taken a sustainable approach in producing different merchandising materials and point-of-sales collaterals by using recycled and recyclable materials. These materials are found in more than 230 stores nationwide.
Working towards incremental change in recycling habits and reducing waste, Garnier is working hand in hand with Mercury Drug and Plastic Flamingo for a sachet collection drive. Customers are encouraged to return used sachets by dropping it in Garnier stations in Mercury Drug branches in Metro Manila. Collected sachets will be recycled to build emergency houses in partnership with Plastic Flamingo
Educating Consumers to make informed Choices with Green Education
Committed to engaging customers, suppliers and partners in the Group’s transformation process, Garnier has taken the lead by partnering with Edukasyon PH, the largest EdTech platform for the Filipino youth, in developing modules focused on the education of sustainability, co-created for the Green Education Program. Through integrating concrete sustainability practices, Garnier aims provide a better understanding of sustainability and empower consumers to make more informed choices.
“Green Education marks the beginning of efforts to empower people with important knowledge and practices on sustainability. We will take on greater responsibility, engage our entire ecosystem and demonstrate that companies can be part of the solution to the pressing challenges the world is facing. We are looking forward to seeing more partnerships come into fruition in the next few months and be able to contribute to creating a sustainable and beautiful world for everyone,” Singh shared.
