Estee Lauder & Sustainability

A business I chose to investigate was Estee Lauder. They work to promote sustainability regarding plastic waste in all sorts of ways. Estee Lauder is a very well-known makeup company that most of you have probably heard of. Many things such as sustainable building operations and waste reduction have been significant parts to target environmental sustainability. Estee Lauder minimizes environmental impacts by reducing emissions and sending zero waste to landfills at their facilities.

The most significant part of the problem with makeup is the packaging because of the amount of plastic used. They are focusing on reducing the environmental impacts of a single package through its lifestyle. In 2020 they released guidelines to their developers to aim for sustainable packaging. By 2025 their goal is for 75-100% of their packaging to be recyclable, refillable, and reusable.

Their guidelines include:

–           Reducing and removing packaging where possible

–           Designing for reuse and refill ability

–           Building designed-in recyclability

–           Increasing amounts of Post-Consumer Recycled (PCR) material in packaging

–           Replacing petroleum-based plastics with bioplastics (if the bioplastic can be recycled and does not contaminate the traditional recycling streams)

https://www.elcompanies.com/en/our-commitments/sustainability/product-responsibility

Estee Lauder is devoted to sourcing ingredients that have no impact on people or the future. Their goal is by 2025 that at least 90% of their palm-based ingredients will be certified sustainable.

 

“Sustainability has long been central to how The Estée Lauder Companies and its brands have operated and is a key part of our corporate strategy for the future. We know this work is more important than ever, and we are committed to accelerating our efforts to contribute to the health and well-being of people and the planet.”

Nancy Mahon, Senior Vice President, Global Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability

This quote is significant because it’s essential for brands to focus on sustainability to help our future. Estee Lauder is very transparent in all the ingredients used, and it helps us better understand what we are using. Making sure you are purchasing from sustainable companies and doing your research can be very helpful. I know how to start doing more research before buying products. Hopefully, more big brands will begin to focus on sustainability because that is what will help our future one step at a time.