The Estée Lauder Companies has announced its plan to advance its legacy of responsible corporate citizenship, with new  Environmental, Social and Governance goals — and it includes packaging. 

Fabrizio Freda, president and chief executive officer, outlined these goals at an Investor Day in New York City. The goals were submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a Form 8-K filing.

Packaging Goals

The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) stated: “By 2025, 75-100% of our packaging will be recyclable, refillable, reusable, recycled or recoverable.”

And in achieving this goal, ELC will increase the amount of post-consumer recycled material in its product packaging by up to 50%. 

The company will also use responsibly-sourced paper products whenever possible — with a goal to have 100% of its forest-based fiber cartons FSC certified by 2025.

Ingredient Transparency & Responsible Sourcing

Ingredient Transparency is another part of its plan. ELC states: We will develop a glossary of key ingredients that includes descriptions of the ingredients’ purposes and will make this information available online by 2025.

A plan for Responsible Sourcing is also outlined. By 2025, ELC says it will have identified sensitive ingredient supply chains and will have developed robust biodiversity and social action plans for them.

Also, at least 90% of ELC’s palm-based ingredients (palm oil and its derivatives) will be certified sustainable from RSPO physical supply chains by 2025.

Creating A More Sustainable & Beautiful World

Another goal to highlight is ELC’s mission to ensure each brand focuses on and supports at least one social or environmental cause by 2025.

The plan also states: “By 2020, our programs and grants focused on health, education and environmental programs will impact the well-being of 10 million individuals around the world.” The company says it will also engage 50% of eligible employees in regional, brand or local volunteer programs such as ELC Good Works, the Breast Cancer Campaign and the MAC Global Volunteer program.

Freda says, “Consumers and employees are increasingly drawn to purpose-driven brands and companies…We are taking our mission to a higher level and accelerating our ESG efforts by announcing new goals, which will be integrated into our strategy and our business operations.”

Nancy Mahon, senior vice president, Global Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability, adds, “Our brands such as Aveda, M∙A∙C and Origins have historically been leaders in sustainability and citizenship and have a strong record of delivering meaningful impact to our consumers, employees and the communities in which we source and make our products.”

Mahon adds, “Our Company-wide ESG goals are part of our mission to create a more sustainable and beautiful world and underscore our deep commitment to innovate and embed sustainable principles and social purpose across every aspect of our business—for the long term.”