EP Insight, December 2025 | L’Oréal: Sustainable Product Optimization Tool (SPOT)

The beauty industry has historically faced sustainability challenges – from high water consumption and chemical use, to large volumes of packaging waste and limited transparency on environmental impacts [1] – prompting action for more robust, science-based practices.

L’Oréal, a publicly-traded French cosmetics company, is taking a holistic approach to reducing the environmental footprint of its products through its Sustainable Product Optimization Tool (SPOT). Unlike most life cycle assessment tools, which focus only on ingredients or packaging, SPOT evaluates 14 environmental factors across the entire product lifecycle – from raw material sourcing and formulation to production, transportation, use, and end-of-life.

The 14 Impact Factors Calculated as Part of the Scoring at Each Stage of a Product’s Life Cycle

Photo: L’Oréal

Since 2017, all new or renovated L’Oréal products have been evaluated with SPOT, and by 2022, 97% showed an improved environmental profile.[2] SPOT calculates impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions, water scarcity, water acidification, and biodiversity, and even accounts for consumer use – like CO₂ emissions from heating water in the shower – or packaging recyclability, such as the percentage of recycled plastic used.

SPOT was developed with input from international experts, is aligned with European Product Environmental Footprint standards,[3] and provides quantitative, science-based scores to guide product design. It also enables product-level environmental scores to be shared with consumers. For example, L’Oréal Paris shampoo bottles carry A-E eco-scores on their packaging, which gives consumers guidance on a product’s footprint, and supports informed, sustainable choices.

By embedding sustainability into the research and development process rather than measuring it after the fact, SPOT ensures that every stage of product development considers environmental impacts. This end-to-end approach provides clear, quantitative insights, enables both designers and consumers to make more informed choices, and reflects L’Oréal’s commitment to advancing responsible beauty.

If you are interested in reading more about corporate work to lower negative environmental impacts, please see other EP Insights from Terra Alpha here.

[1] Forbes: Beauty is Not Just Skin Deep, Its Kind to the Planet
[2] L’Oréal Product Environmental & Social Impact Labelling Methodologies 
[3] L’Oréal: A New Tool to Assess the Environmental and Social Impact of Our Products