World Refill Day : depuis plus de 15 ans, les Laboratoires Pierre Fabre développent des solutions de recharge en pharmacie
17 June 2026
Back in 2009, Ducray was already pioneering pharmacy refills with its iconic EXTRA-DOUX shampoo.
Castres, 11June 2026 – To mark World Refill Day on 16 June, Laboratoires Pierre Fabre highlights the key role that reducing packaging and developing refill solutions in pharmacies has played for many years in its environmental responsibility approach.
Driven by a portfolio of iconic dermo-cosmetic brands distributed worldwide — Avène, A-Derma, Ducray, Klorane and René Furterer —, Laboratoires Pierre Fabre has been implementing initiatives for over 15 years to reduce and limit the use of plastic, encourage reuse and guide consumers towards more responsible daily skincare habits, without compromising on quality or safety.
With the EXTRA-DOUX eco-refill in 2009, we laid the first concrete foundation stone of our overall eco-design approach, as we know there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Refills, reduced packaging, the use of recycled materials and the development of new bio-based materials are all complementary ways to move towards more environmentally friendly skincare.
Avène, Ducray, A-Derma... Today, all of Laboratoires Pierre Fabre’s iconic brands are committed
Laboratoires Pierre Fabre now offers refill options across several of its leading pharmacy brands, drawing on both long-standing products and a new generation of everyday skincare designed to last. Having pioneered the concept as early as 2009 with the eco-refill for Ducray’s EXTRA-GENTLE shampoo, the Group has since extended this approach to essential products for sensitive or atopic-prone skin, such as the XERACALM AD lipid-replenishing cleansing oil, available as an eco-refill, and the Avène HYALURON ACTIV B3 cell regeneration cream, available in a refillable jar. By 2027, this momentum is gathering pace with the gradual introduction of new refills across key ranges such as the 1-litre EXOMEGA CONTROL oil and the EXOMEGA REPAIR A-Derma skincare range, as well as a new refill for Ducray EXTRA-GENTLE shampoo, which will complement the initiatives already underway and further establish refills at the heart of pharmacy skincare routines.
An eco-design strategy underpinning all activities
Laboratoires Pierre Fabre adopted a comprehensive eco-design approach at a very early stage, integrating all eco-design principles at every stage of the product life cycle:
- limiting the resources used,
- consideration of the end-of-life of packaging,
- optimising production processes,
- deploying tools to monitor the environmental performance of industrial sites.
This structured approach enables the Group to recycle over 80% of waste from its factories and make greater use of renewable energy, whilst maintaining high quality standards.
Measuring and quantifying the impact of refills using the Green Impact Index
By reducing the amount of packaging and promoting the circular economy, refillable formats help to improve several of the criteria taken into account by the Green Impact Index, particularly those relating to the packaging life cycle. The Index thus acts as a guide for refill projects: it enables the concrete effects of new formats on the overall product profile to be measured, and helps place these initiatives on a path of continuous improvement towards sustainably and socially responsible skincare. For example, buying the refill for Hyaluron Activ B3 cream rather than the glass jar saves 93% in packaging, 84% in CO₂ and 79% in water. The Green Impact Index score for the packaging criterion thus rises from C for the glass jar to B for the refill. Another initiative offered to consumers is to opt for the refill for their Naturia shampoo bottle, Exomega Control cleansing oil or Xeracalm AD. This approach saves 74 to 77% of plastic compared to the bottle and also improves the Green Impact Index score for the packaging criterion.
Refilling a dermo-cosmetic product: a simple step, a more challenging development
In dermo-cosmetics, developing a refillable format is not simply a matter of reducing the amount of plastic used or making it easier to recycle. All products already meet high standards in terms of safety, skin tolerance and quality. However, the development of refillable formats requires these standards to be raised even further, particularly due to the reuse of the container.
These requirements are even higher when the products are intended for sensitive skin, infants, or people undergoing dermatological or oncological treatment, for whom risk management must be particularly rigorous.
Each refill project must therefore incorporate several additional constraints: ensuring the microbiological safety of the product in a context of packaging reuse, and preserving the stability and efficacy of formulations that are often highly demanding.
Beyond Refill: inventing the packaging of tomorrow – bioplastics, cellulose fibres and the circular economy
True to their culture of innovation, Laboratoires Pierre Fabre are investing in groundbreaking research projects to radically transform the way packaging is designed. The Green Bioplastics project explores the use of microalgae capable of capturing CO₂ to transform it into bio-based and biodegradable bioplastics for dermo-cosmetic packaging. The Group is also investigating the use of cellulose fibres to develop packaging solutions that are durable, recyclable and compatible with the requirements of dermo-cosmetics.
All these initiatives complement the refill and eco-refill schemes and reinforce the consistency of the climate action pathway undertaken by Laboratoires Pierre Fabre: reducing the packaging footprint, developing new reuse models and experimenting with innovative materials. They thus help position Pierre Fabre as a pioneering and committed player in the circular economy applied to the pharmacy sector, placing health, dermo-cosmetics and the environmental transition at the direct benefit of patients and consumers.
To mark World Refill Day, Laboratoires Pierre Fabre is also joining the collective initiative coordinated by FEBEA and supported by the Ministry for Ecological Transition, which aims to encourage consumers to adopt a “refill habit”.
About the Green Impact Index:
The Green Impact Index is a tool for displaying the environmental and societal impact of dermo-cosmetic and family health products, among others. Each product is rated from A to E based on around 50 criteria covering its entire life cycle (80% environmental criteria and 20% societal criteria), with products rated A or B being those whose impact has been optimised. This tool is based on the methodology described in AFNOR Spec 2215, developed under the auspices of AFNOR Standardisation, and more than 4,000 of the Group’s products are now rated according to this standard. Originally created by Pierre Fabre, the Green Impact Index is now managed by a dedicated consortium bringing together several stakeholders to promote a shared and transparent tool for displaying environmental and societal impact for consumers.
kNOW MORE ABOUT THE Laboratoires Pierre Fabre
Press contacts
Caroline PERDRIX
caroline.perdrix@pierre-fabre.com
06 75 22 81 63