Cosmetics giant L’Oréal USA is joining the ranks of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Green Power Partnership.
The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages organizations to utilise green electricity sources as a means of reducing environmental impacts associated with conventional power use.
Top 100 Partners represent close to nearly 30 billion kilowatt-hours annually and account for more than 83 percent of the green power commitments made by all participants.
L’Oréal USA, which manages a portfolio of more than 30 well-known beauty brands, states it is consuming close to 27 million kilowatt-hours of green power annually. This usage is primarily via on-site solar energy systems at eight of its facilities and green power products from electricity companies.
The company is sourcing enough green electricity to meet a third of its power use – up from 22.5% in 2012. 27 million kilowatt-hours is enough to power 3,150 average American homes annually.
“As the world’s beauty leader, it is our responsibility to integrate sustainability into all areas of our business and this partnership signifies the company’s ongoing effort to identify cleaner sources of power,” said Fréderic Rozé, President and CEO of L’Oréal USA.
The EPA has applauded the company’s on-site use of green power.
“L’Oréal USA is helping to support the voluntary renewable energy market, reduce harmful air pollution, and demonstrates that using green power is smart for business and the environment,” said James Critchfield, Manager of the Green Power Partnership.
Under the company’s global sustainability strategy, L’Oréal USA reached a goal of 60 percent carbon emission reduction in the USA at the end of 2015 despite a significant increase in production, and states it has continued to accelerate its carbon reduction efforts.
L’Oreal embracing solar power goes beyond the USA’s shores. In Australia, Energy Matters designed and installed a 300 kWp solar PV system on a newly-constructed L’Oréal Australia warehouse in Dandenong, Victoria. Completed in March 2014, the system consists of more than 1,150 solar panels, has an estimated annual output of 400 megawatt-hours and is avoiding approximately 500 tonnes of carbon emissions each year.
L’Oreal is one of an increasing number companies with a presence in Australia cutting their carbon emissions and taking greater control over their energy costs with a commercial solar array.
