Hard-earned lessons from L’Oreal’s chief of U.S. sustainability

L’Oreal, the world’s largest cosmetics company with $45 billion in 2024 revenue, is part of an exclusive club of corporations that have reduced greenhouse gas emissions since 2020 while continuing to grow sales. 

The French conglomerate cut emissions for operated sites by 74 percent between 2019 and 2023, while production volumes grew 12 percent. Energy efficiency projects and renewable energy investments were big factors, along with L’Oreal’s consequential decision in 2017 to screen the environmental impact of products in the design phase. 

L’Oreal is aiming for 100 percent of its products to be “eco-designed” by 2030, opting for formulations or packaging choices with the lowest social or environmental impact. All new products for 2023 and 2024 were made this way; 96 percent of L’Oreal’s total portfolio has been evaluated, pending separate tests by dermatologists and doctors, said Marissa McGowan, chief sustainability officer of L’Oreal North America. 

McGowan shared a wide range of insights during a main-stage Climate Pioneers interview at GreenBiz 25.

“The objective is that every product, when it’s made or renovated, has to exceed the score of the product that it is replacing,” she said. “That is the internal process. It is pretty robust.”

L’Oreal uses a resource called the Sustainable Product Optimization Tool (SPOT) to simulate 14 environmental impacts related to different ingredients or materials — from extraction through product to packaging.

Close to 2,100 products created since 2019 have been evaluated with SPOT — and 85 percent of new or updated ones have “an improved environmental or social footprint” as a result, according to L’Oreal’s information page about the resource.

For example, close to 60 percent of L’Oreal ingredients come from renewable sources, mainly plants. The claims are verified by an independent auditor, Bureau Veritas Certification, and used in brand labels.

Shifting the focus from products to processes

When McGowan stepped into her role in October 2021, after leading sustainability at luxury apparel company PVH, L’Oreal was marketing some products explicitly for their lower environmental impact, such as a “green edition” of Maybelline Mascara that has been discontinued. Rather than continuing these offerings, McGowan’s team has advocated, instead, for blending features such as vegan ingredients and packaging made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled plastic into its bestsellers, including Sky High Mascara.

“We found [eco-focused products] didn’t do as fantastically as we hoped when we looked at what we were actually trying to accomplish, which is large scale reduction of things we don’t want, and an increase of things we do want,” said McGowan. “We decided, instead of going for these one-off green product lines, we would take the learnings from those green product lines and actually apply them to our best sellers, our top SKUs.”

An investment in role-specific training

To champion that mission, McGowan leans on allies across the company, starting with the 4,000-person research and innovation team. Striving for a “sustainable future” is explicitly spelled out in the group’s mission statement along with its expertise in the relevant chemistry. 

In November 2023, for example, L’Oreal announced a patent-pending waterless, low-energy process for extracting fragrance from natural ingredients such as tuberose, a Mexican-native plant used in perfumes since the 17th century.

L’Oreal offers group-level sustainability training to all employees. In 2025, it added another module that is specific to job functions to help individuals better relate the concepts to their day-to-day role.

“You go in and you choose, I’m a marketer, I’m a product developer, whatever it is,” McGowan said. “It takes you on a 30-minute design course on which [key performance indicators] are relevant to you, what business decisions you can make, and how that can ultimately impact the product.”

Regulatory pressures can be a source of innovation

Because she knows change can be a function of influence, McGowan begins each year with a resolution to build deeper relationships with at least four new people — or individuals she doesn’t know well. She’s an introvert, so this requires intention. “I say I’m a business leader that practices sustainability,” she said. “I think it’s critical being in the business space so that we can speak the business language.”

McGowan, who earned her law degree at Georgetown University, practiced for a decade before shifting to roles in sustainability leadership. So, one business “language” she speaks fluently is the language of regulation.

While sustainability professionals will encounter strong federal headwinds under President Donald Trump, McGowan sees opportunity to help L’Oreal North America interpret laws at the state level in a way that can be positive for business. Extended producer responsibility regulations — especially California’s law — have supercharged the discussion about the cost of changing packaging.

“I think it’s an absolute tailwind,” she said. “It’s allowed us to open up internal conversations around our plastic targets.”

Regulations can also help sustainability professionals connect the dots between plastics and emissions reductions, McGowan offered, as more people realize that most plastics are derived primarily from fossil fuels. “I think we have opportunity, as we’ve matured as a function, as the conversation has mainstreamed, to actually bring those conversations back together,” she said.

L’Oreal offers group-level sustainability training to all employees. In 2025, it added another module that is specific to job functions to help individuals better relate the concepts to their day-to-day role.

“You go in and you choose, I’m a marketer, I’m a product developer, whatever it is,” McGowan said. “It takes you on a 30-minute design course on which [key performance indicators] are relevant to you, what business decisions you can make, and how that can ultimately impact the product.”

Regulatory pressures can be a source of innovation

Because she knows change can be a function of influence, McGowan begins each year with a resolution to build deeper relationships with at least four new people — or individuals she doesn’t know well. She’s an introvert, so this requires intention. “I say I’m a business leader that practices sustainability,” she said. “I think it’s critical being in the business space so that we can speak the business language.”

McGowan, who earned her law degree at Georgetown University, practiced for a decade before shifting to roles in sustainability leadership. So, one business “language” she speaks fluently is the language of regulation.

While sustainability professionals will encounter strong federal headwinds under President Donald Trump, McGowan sees opportunity to help L’Oreal North America interpret laws at the state level in a way that can be positive for business. Extended producer responsibility regulations — especially California’s law — have supercharged the discussion about the cost of changing packaging.

“I think it’s an absolute tailwind,” she said. “It’s allowed us to open up internal conversations around our plastic targets.”

Regulations can also help sustainability professionals connect the dots between plastics and emissions reductions, McGowan offered, as more people realize that most plastics are derived primarily from fossil fuels. “I think we have opportunity, as we’ve matured as a function, as the conversation has mainstreamed, to actually bring those conversations back together,” she said.

L’Oreal offers group-level sustainability training to all employees. In 2025, it added another module that is specific to job functions to help individuals better relate the concepts to their day-to-day role.

“You go in and you choose, I’m a marketer, I’m a product developer, whatever it is,” McGowan said. “It takes you on a 30-minute design course on which [key performance indicators] are relevant to you, what business decisions you can make, and how that can ultimately impact the product.”

Regulatory pressures can be a source of innovation

Because she knows change can be a function of influence, McGowan begins each year with a resolution to build deeper relationships with at least four new people — or individuals she doesn’t know well. She’s an introvert, so this requires intention. “I say I’m a business leader that practices sustainability,” she said. “I think it’s critical being in the business space so that we can speak the business language.”

McGowan, who earned her law degree at Georgetown University, practiced for a decade before shifting to roles in sustainability leadership. So, one business “language” she speaks fluently is the language of regulation.

While sustainability professionals will encounter strong federal headwinds under President Donald Trump, McGowan sees opportunity to help L’Oreal North America interpret laws at the state level in a way that can be positive for business. Extended producer responsibility regulations — especially California’s law — have supercharged the discussion about the cost of changing packaging.

“I think it’s an absolute tailwind,” she said. “It’s allowed us to open up internal conversations around our plastic targets.”

Regulations can also help sustainability professionals connect the dots between plastics and emissions reductions, McGowan offered, as more people realize that most plastics are derived primarily from fossil fuels. “I think we have opportunity, as we’ve matured as a function, as the conversation has mainstreamed, to actually bring those conversations back together,” she said.