Alexandra Palt is trying to make L’Oréal 100% sustainable

L’Oréal is a giant of the beauty world, and now its executive vice president is pushing the company to lead the industry on sustainability and corporate responsibility, writes Andy Martin

Alexandra Palt, executive vice president of L’Oréal (L’Oréal)

L’Oréal is the biggest beauty company in the world. It sells around 7 billion soothing, smoothing, fragrant, appearance-enhancing, age-defying products every year. Something for nearly every person on the planet. Which is a lot of beauty. But, at the same time, all those beautifying potions and perfumes have to be contained inside something. Which means 7 billion pots and packages to be disposed of. “And still,” says Alexandra Palt, “that is only 0.05 per cent of the world’s total plastic use.” So she is doing something about it. Thus making L’Oréal and the world that bit more beautiful than before.

Palt argues that beauty is a basic human right. And you may say: “she would say that, wouldn’t she”, given that she is that great rarity, a human rights lawyer turned executive vice president at L’Oréal. But she is persuasive. She acknowledges one serious weakness: hot sweet dumplings for dessert. They’re a throwback to the Vienna of her birth, and not so ubiquitous in Paris, where she has trained her forensic guns on making L’Oréal 100 per cent sustainable and an industry leader in corporate responsibility. No more plastic, s’il vous plait.

Palt brings a literary, intellectual and cosmopolitan sensibility to bear on the beauty business. She is at home in several languages and is currently reading Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall in English. “That’s quite difficult for me, because there are a lot of old words.” She could have studied literature, history or philosophy at the University of Vienna, but she chose law in the end because “I really cannot take injustice. Law seemed like a way to do something about injustice and human suffering. Now I’m almost 50 and I’m just as emotional and involved as when I was 20.”

After graduating, she was not interested in a conventional legal career. “I looked for a way I could contribute,” she says, and got involved in feminist and anti-racist movements, specialising in human rights. She went to work for IMS-Entreprendre pour la Cité, the French equivalent of the British “Business in the Community”, where she was focused on urban regeneration, diversity and community involvement. “It was great, because I could see the impact of what we were doing.”

Palt met her husband – who is originally from Brazzaville in Congo and studied at one of the grandes écoles, Sciences Po – when they were both volunteering as mentors in Paris for kids from minority backgrounds who wanted to get into business. “Entrepreneur”, after all, is a French word (an 18th century import, meaning “one who undertakes or begins”).

In 2008, after a couple of years at the French Equal Opportunities and Anti-Discrimination Commission, she “undertook or began” Fabric of Society, which was concerned with sustainability and advising companies on their environmental policies and “corporate social responsibility”. She says she had realised that “it’s all connected – climate change, disease, human suffering. And it is horrible if we do not change course.”

You might think that a lot of people don’t want to change course. But some do. And that includes L’Oréal. It recruited Palt in 2012 to lead its “sustainable transformation”. At that point, L’Oréal had already been going for more than a century (founded in 1909) and reflected the proud French tradition of perfume and cosmetics. But it had taken on board the more eco-conscious zeitgeist and realised it had to do something about all those 7 billion bottles.

Palt doesn’t think that the beauty industry stereotypes anyone or puts pressure on women to conform to a particular model

Under Palt, L’Oréal has already reduced its carbon footprint by 80 per cent. By 2025 it aims to have achieved carbon neutrality. By 2030 all of its packaging will be either recycled or bio-based. New labelling will spell out the impact. On top of that it is allocating €150m towards addressing social and environmental problems, including the restoration of ecosystems. “We’re not a green start-up,” Palt concedes. “So there is a lot of work to be done.” She hopes that “we will inspire others”. For the last four years in a row, they’ve received an “A” score from the reputable Carbon Disclosure Project for climate protection, water management and forest preservation.

In Palt’s vision, by 2030 L’Oréal will be “completely aligned with the limits of the planet”. The notion of planetary “boundaries” is based on scientific research at the Stockholm Resilience Centre and the Australian National University and defines the limits beyond which our habitat goes into meltdown (we’ve already crossed a couple of them).

L’Oréal can also boast what must be one of the most famous slogans in the world: “Because you’re worth it”. Palt makes the case that it is, in essence, a feminist statement. “Women have the right to take care of themselves,” she argues. “And it’s more valid now than ever.” As part of its work in the community, L’Oréal provides support to vulnerable women who may be suffering from cancer or are victims of violence. Palt says: “It’s so important how they feel about themselves.”

She is conscious of a grand tradition of “self-care”, not just at L’Oréal. “If you look back into history, it’s ancient. The concept of beauty is as old as humanity.” And we’ve always relied on accessories. Even Cleopatra used make-up, with ochre lipstick and blue eye-shadow. Palt doesn’t think that the beauty industry stereotypes anyone or puts pressure on women to conform to a particular model. They don’t all have to look like Charlize Theron or Penelope Cruz. L’Oréal, she points out, has more than 36 brands, “different notions of what beauty might mean”. They’re not all at the luxury end of the spectrum. “We have something for every aspiration. This is beauty for all.”

I know that L’Oréal also offers products for men. And, despite the poster campaign, I haven’t felt under pressure to look anything like Hugh Laurie.