2005 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT REPORT

500
400
300
200
100
0
600
400
200
0
COSMETICS AND DERMATOLOGICAL
RESEARCH BUDGETS (1)
€ millions
396
429
443
467
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
(1) Including Galderma at 50%.
PATENTS
493 501 515
586
496
529
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Sustainable Development Report_L’ORÉAL 2005
the safety of our consumers. Safety is a fundamental
priority for L’Oréal, and one for
which we will never allow room for any compromise.
In this area, the European REACH legislation,
currently in the stages of being passed, is a
significant step that L’Oréal supports and
already takes into account.
This ambition has already resulted in procedures
and commitments some of which are
examined in greater detail in this report. We
aim to:
■ guarantee the safety of ingredients and
guarantee safe handling procedures for our
raw materials,
■ assess, right from the initial design phase,
the human and environmental safety of our
raw materials and formulas,
■ increase the proportion of renewable raw
materials of plant origin,
■ protect biodiversity,
■ carry out life cycle assessments (LCAs) of
our common raw materials,
■ assist our suppliers in integrating sustainable
development issues,
■ assess raw material supply, and processing,
and structure some of these sources to support
local development, regional requirements
and employment,
■ guarantee local populations’ access to the
source raw materials, recognise their ancestral
know-how and take into account a “fair return”
for the local population,
■ discuss and consult with stakeholders,
notably community representatives.
Management structure
aligned to the challenges of
sustainable development
REACH: Registration, Evaluation
and Authorization of Chemicals (Europe)
L’Oréal’s Research and Development Division
has set up a Sustainable Development Committee
to oversee the implementation of sustainable
development related measures. The
aims of this Committee are to:
■ translate sustainable development challenges
into action plans in the research and
development laboratories,
■ ensure the relevant actions plans are implemented.
The aim of the REACH proposals is to improve human and environmental safety from chemical
substances through the improved identification of their intrinsic properties.
This European legislation, in the stage of being passed, represents a series of provisions
restricting and governing the use and production of chemical substances. The substances’
safety and environmental compliance will be strengthened, user companies will be obliged
to analyse them and record them with a European agency, while those substances presenting
risks will be strictly controlled, limited and ultimately replaced.
L’Oréal has for many years supported a responsible approach to the protection of consumer
health and the environment. L’Oréal examines and develops systems in all areas targeted
by the REACH system to ensure that its implementation is as effective as possible.
REACH and the Cosmetics Directive will shortly form a regulatory foundation providing particularly
stringent product safety protection within a context of sustainable development:
■ the Cosmetics Directive covers the safety of product use and user health,
■ workplace safety/human health aspects (laboratories, plants, etc.) are also included
in REACH,
■ environmental safety is covered by REACH.