L'Oreal Cosmetics has announced that they are installing a biomass system at their factory in Libramont, Belgium where they produce many of their brands' haircare products.
The plant plant will feature an anaerobic digestion system that will capture methane from waste that comes from nearby cattle farms. When the system's installation is completed at the end of the summer, methane will be used to generate 85% of the plant's power. Even better is that this is just a single step in the cosmetics giant's plan to cut their factory and warehouse emissions in half by 2015 (based on 2005 levels).
Pierre Simoncelli, director for sustainable development at the company, said that the factory was situated in a cattle-farming area that would provide the slurry to power the new technology.
"We plan to start by using a mixture of organic waste and corn, but we should then be able to switch fairly quickly to just using organic waste," he explained, adding that the biomass power system should provide enough energy for 85 per cent of the factories' current requirements.
In order to meet their goal, the company will be installing additional onsite renewable energy systems like solar PV and solar thermaland buying more green power from suppliers.
The company also hopes to cut their water use by 30 to 35 percent in the same time frame by using rainwater capture and steam-cleaning technologies.
L'Oreal is one of the biggest cosmetics conglomerates out there (it's akin to beauty products to what LVMH is to designer fashion), so it's awesome to see them put an emphasis on sustainable development. It makes me feel better as a consumer to know what I'm supporting when I'm buying their products too. Now if they could only continue their green support in polish form....Sources via BusinessGreen & Ecogeek
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