L'Oréal USA honored by the EPA

25-Oct-2017 - Last updated on 25-Oct-2017 at 13:23 GMT

This week at an event in New York City, the US Environmental Protection Agency presented its annual Green Power Leadership Awards. For L'Oréal, the honor is validation of the beauty maker’s efforts to be an industry leader not only in the cosmetics and personal care arena but in the larger corporate community as well.

The EPA’s Green Power Leadership Awards recognize the efforts of organizations, projects, and people acting as leaders in what’s come to be known as the green power movement. Green power, according to the Agency is “electricity produced from solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, eligible biomass, and low-impact small hydroelectric sources.”

Award winning

“This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our US Operations teams whose tireless efforts have allowed us to exceed our global carbon reduction goals, and to whom we credit for reaching 100% renewable electricity across all of our US plants and distribution centers,” Frédéric Rozé, president and CEO of L'Oréal USA, says in a company press release about the EPA award.

The EPA gave out awards in four Green Power Leadership categories at this week’s Renewable Energy Markets Conference. While 19 organizations were honored at the event, only two were named as an EPA Green Power Partner of the Year— L'Oréal being one of the two. “We are proud to be named the Green Power Partner of the Year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” Rozé tells the press.

Jay Harf, vice president of environment, health, safety, and sustainability for L'Oréal operations in the Americas, accepted the award.

Energy saving

As outlined in the EPA winners list, “The company's commitment to green power began in 2011, with a solar array installation at its Piscataway, New Jersey, manufacturing facility. In 2016, L'Oréal USA joined the EPA Green Power Partnership, at which point the company was using 33 percent green power for its electricity needs. Since joining GPP, L'Oréal USA's manufacturing operation now uses 100 percent green power and has reduced its GHG emissions by 84 percent.”

The company also boasts the largest commercial solar venture in Kentucky, one of 16 such installations that L'Oréal operates in the States. And, “in addition to its green power use, L'Oréal has pledged to reduce its GHG emissions, water consumption, and waste in absolute terms by 60 percent by 2020 (from a 2005 baseline),” notes the EPA blurb.