Beauty for You, Care for the Planet: ELC Advances Sustainability This Earth Day and Beyond

At ELC, we believe that beauty and sustainability can go hand in hand. From sourcing raw ingredients to helping shape our products’ end-of-life, we strive to elevate the consumer experience while prioritizing quality, sustainability, and safety across our portfolio of prestige beauty brands. As Earth Day approaches on April 22, we’re proud to showcase how we consider sustainability principles throughout the product lifecycle—from initial design decisions to end-of-life solutions—and support our consumers in making choices that benefit themselves and the planet. We remain guided by the belief that thoughtful innovation can deliver both elevated experiences and long-term environmental progress.

Ingredient Transparency & Responsible Sourcing

Trust begins with transparency. We’re committed to helping consumers understand what’s in the products they love and how we manage them responsibly. In fiscal year 2024, we published our first corporate ingredient glossary with more than 100 key ingredients, providing greater insight into our products. 

We also focus on sensitive ingredients by developing biodiversity and social action plans to mitigate risks and promote sustainable practices. To support these efforts, we consolidate spend with strategic suppliers to promote best practices in biodiversity preservation and social impact programs. For example, our 15-year partnership with the Kutkabubba Aboriginal Community (KAC) of Western Australia led to the creation of Dutjahn Sandalwood Oils, a 50% Aboriginal-owned venture. This collaboration promotes economic stability, preserves traditions, and includes tree replanting efforts.

We also tailor solutions to the supply chain and local context. One example is TRASCE, a consortium of cosmetics industry companies enhancing traceability in key ingredients and packaging supply chains using a common digital platform. Additionally, we encourage sharing information and best practices related to ingredient traceability and sourcing. This includes the Action for Sustainable Derivatives (ASD), an alliance of brands and suppliers addressing sourcing challenges in complex derivative supply chains by harmonizing approaches on transparency, risk monitoring, and evaluation.

Innovation & Formulation 

Our approach to innovation and product formulation reflects our commitment to thoughtful design and sustainability. For more than a decade, we have advanced green chemistry—a science-based framework that guides ingredient selection and product design through the lens of human health, ecosystem health, and environmental impact.

Central to our sustainability efforts is the Green Score program, a proprietary methodology that guides our formulators in assessing and scoring raw materials and formulations. This program drives decision-making across our skin care, makeup, and hair care portfolios, fostering sustainable ingredient innovation and supplier engagement. In fiscal year 2024, we held green chemistry meetings in Shanghai, including at our China Innovation Labs, with our global and APAC scientific advisory boards. These discussions led to the publication of “Advancing Green Chemistry Performance: The Estée Lauder Companies’ Continuing Journey Towards Meaningful Transparency,” detailing the second iteration of our green chemistry tool for more accurate formulation guidance, in the peer-reviewed journal Green Chemistry.

Packaging Design 

Packaging is often the first touchpoint between our products and consumers—a moment of connection and delight. At ELC, it also presents an opportunity to advance our sustainability goals. Over the past 5 years, ELC’s Packaging Sustainability Guidelines have guided our teams in creating high-quality, functional, and luxurious packaging tailored to each brand. We approach this work through the “5 Rs”—recyclable, refillable, reusable, recycled, or recoverable—helping us evaluate and improve packaging solutions across our portfolio.

The Shopping Experience 

Our retail footprint and broad online presence offer unique opportunities to support environmental targets while engaging consumers. As our e-commerce business has grown, we’ve strengthened our online sustainability strategy by offering carbon-neutral shipping options across 16 countries, offsetting transportation emissions for purchases on select brand websites.

Additionally, our Responsible Store Design (RSD) program, an internally developed, third-party assured initiative, helps retail locations optimize store build-out, energy and water use, sourcing of materials, visual merchandising, day-to-day operations, and in-store technology and innovation.

Refill & Take-Back Programs

Our consumers are central to our end-to-end sustainability strategy. We aim to make it easier for them to participate in our efforts through programs that promote responsible and ethical practices. In certain markets, we offer ways for consumers to recycle, refill, or return spent product packaging through in-store takeback programs. Several brands like Aveda, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Clinique, DECIEM, and M·A·C offer these programs, allowing consumers to engage with the circular economy.

Partnership Beyond Our Products

We also recognize the need to drive further environmental impact beyond our products and operations, which is why we work with cross-sector and multilateral partners, leveraging our convening power as a global organization. For example, ELC assembled and supported numerous events and onstage conversations alongside the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and during Climate Week NYC in September 2024.

Our commitment extends to supporting the communities where we live, work, and source. Through these comprehensive efforts, we aim to support programs at the intersection of environmental sustainability and social impact. Some of these initiatives include:

• Project Lampung: In fiscal year 2024, ELC partnered with BASF, RSPO, and the NGO Solidaridad to work with smallholder Indonesian palm oil farmers. This initiative provided technical education and training for more than 1,000 farmers, with more than 300 receiving official RSPO certification, which helped them participate in a more sustainable palm oil market.

• Conservation International Partnership: Since 2021, The Estée Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation (ELCCF) has supported Indigenous women through Conservation International’s Amazonia Indigenous Women’s Fellowship program. This work provides Indigenous women leaders with training and investment to implement initiatives that strengthen their communities and conserve high-carbon forests across the Amazon.

This Earth Day, as we celebrate the beauty of our planet, ELC invites everyone to follow our sustainability journey. With every product, every initiative, and every consumer choice, we aim to help build a world where beauty and responsibility are interconnected.

Discover more about ELC’s approach to product responsibility and download our fiscal year 2024 Social Impact & Sustainability Report.