Understand the Environmental and Social Impacts of Products 

Carbon footprint

Corresponds to the amount of greenhouse gas (CO_²) emitted throughout the product’s life cycle. CO_²emissions contribute to global warming and climate change: cutting them is therefore essential. For example, a good score for packaging-related CO_² emissions is somewhere between 0 and 100g CO_² equivalent per liter of product. The Pierre Fabre group’s portfolio currently contains around 15 packaging models whose carbon impact falls within that range, and we’re working hard to improve the others.

Another lever is the naturalness of our formulas, which allows us to limit the use of materials of petrochemical origin.

Boosting the naturalness of our formulas means finding natural, renewable alternatives for petrochemical materials—in other words, those derived from fossil fuels—, making sure that the conditions in which those alternatives are cultivated or collected respect biodiversity. To assess how natural an ingredient is, we identify the resource and its origin before analyzing all the stages involved in its production. We also use an approach to calculate the naturalness of raw materials based on the ISO 16128 standard, an internationally recognized guideline. 

Water footprint

Corresponds to the amount of water used to produce a product’s components and packaging, and for its manufacture, as well as the water consumed when it is used (as an example, your shower accounts for about 60% of your shampoo’s water footprint). We can’t control how long you spend in the shower, so when we study a product’s environmental impact, we don’t include this use phase. We made the decision to focus on those areas we’re responsible for and our levers for action, not yours.

Aquatic ecotoxicity

Refers to the pollution sustained by water bodies and aquatic ecosystems due to the ingredients found in wastewater, regardless of whether it comes from a product’s manufacture or end-of-life treatment, and the wastewater from your shower released by water treatment plants... This pollution leads to eutrophication, i.e. an accumulation of nutrients in aquatic environments and, consequently, an overabundance of plants and algae, followed by oxygen depletion which eventually “chokes” the entire ecosystem. Certain species disappear and the water body may gradually dry up.

We strive to increase the biodegradability of our formulas by selecting ingredients which are themselves biodegradable, and withdrawing any inhibitor ingredients which interfere with the biodegradation process.

For dermo-cosmetic products, we study biodegradability in the specific conditions of a water treatment plant, since that’s where most of their residue ends up, using the OECD 301B test.
A formula is said to be “biodegradable” if its organic compounds are capable of being decomposed by 60% within 28 days by microorganisms, and “readily biodegradable” if they are decomposed in 10 days. 

Naturalness and eco-social responsibility, championed by Green Mission Pierre Fabre, are taken up by every brand and product through their own commitments. They may be expressed in the form of certifications (organic, fair trade), as for example when we opt to use organic farming practices on our land in the Tarn region of France to grow the cornflower used in some Klorane products. By pursuing those principles, we encourage local, sustainable, forward-looking farming practices that respect biodiversity and local populations. 

Controlling the social conditions in which our products are manufactured is one of our top-priority commitments, and is guaranteed as over 90% of our products are manufactured at our French production facilities. Our production facility in Gaillac (Tarn), where most of the active ingredients for our dermo-cosmetic and family health care products are produced, has been certified OHSAS since 2010, and ISO 45001 since 2019, when the new standard for occupational health and safety came into force. 

We also promote fair trade, for example by selecting Pfaffia root as the raw material for producing one of the plant-based key ingredients of the Triphasic range by René Furterer. This ingredient is sourced from Fair for Life certified supply chains and is organically farmed in Brazil. René Furterer has chosen to bear the cost of a third-party certification body (Ecocert) to give the supplier a helping hand to develop its farm in a sustainable way.

Lastly, we have undertaken commitments with our stakeholders. One example is the Ducray brand, which supports patient associations that help people suffering from various types of inflammatory dermatitis. These partnerships help keep patients informed about their disorders and improve their quality of life, while at the same time pushing for clinical innovation to improve the treatments available for the disease.  The brand supports 14 associations worldwide, including the Eczema Society of Canada and Psoriasis Network, also in Canada, Atopy-Asthma Education Information Center in South Korea, and the Portuguese Psoriasis Group.

A fair-trade product guarantees producers receive a fair price for their produce, and ensures transparency and respect for people and the environment at every step in the supply chain. Thanks to shorter supply chains, producers receive a higher revenue, and are offered the opportunity to play a key role in their own development model. Several international organizations such as Fair Trade and Oxfam offer recognized standards that control the use of the Fair Trade claim.