Estée Lauder Cos. Exceeds Sustainability Goals for Ingredients and Packaging

The Estée Lauder Companies released its Fiscal Year 2024 Social Impact and Sustainability (SI&S Report). It details ELC’s continued work toward achieving its social impact and sustainability commitments. The report highlights ELC’s efforts in its focus areas including climate and energy, sustainable packaging, responsible sourcing, ingredient transparency, employee experience and equity, well-being and safety, and impactful social investments. 

ELC also published its 2024 Progress Update to its Climate Transition Plan. It highlights efforts to address climate change. The update outlines ELC’s latest strategic actions, challenges and progress aimed at reducing total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its value chain. 

“In fiscal 2024, we achieved several sustainability goals ahead of schedule, including surpassing our water withdrawal targets, publishing our new corporate ingredient glossary, and reaching our palm oil objectives before our 2025 deadline,” said Chief Sustainability Officer Nancy Mahon. 

“Our environmental and social efforts are integral—enabling innovation, value creation, and operational efficiency, while engaging with current and future talent,” said President and CEO Fabrizio Freda. “In the past year, we continued our efforts, taking important steps to align our practices with our goals and seek opportunities to further embed these principles into how we do business.” 

“As we endeavor to build a stronger and more agile company, we remain guided by the values that have shaped us over the years—generosity of spirit, innovation, willingness to challenge the status quo, and commitment to acting responsibly,” said Executive Chairman William P. Lauder. “Our social impact and sustainability efforts reflect these values and are made possible by the creativity and resilience of our talented teams around the world.” 

Ingredient Transparency & Greener Packaging

During the year, ELC met or exceeded several supply chain and operations goals:

• Achieved 2025 ingredient transparency goal ahead of schedule by publishing a new corporate ingredient glossary. The glossary features more than 100 key ingredients, providing consumers with greater transparency into the products they love.  
• Achieved 2025 palm oil sustainability goal ahead of schedule by ensuring 95% of palm-based ingredients are certified sustainable by RSPO physical supply chains.¹
• Maintained packaging sustainability efforts, with 71% of packaging in fiscal year 2024 being recyclable, refillable, reusable, recycled, or recoverable, and moved closer to the 2025 target of 75-100%.²
• Achieved 2025 water withdrawal goal ahead of schedule by reaching a 23% reduction in water withdrawal from direct manufacturing sites, from our fiscal 2019 baseline.³
• Diverted 99.8% of industrial waste from landfills across global operations.⁴  
• Integrated new sustainability practices across ELC operations, including completing new LEED-certified locations, adding new solar installations in Belgium and Japan, accelerating efforts to transition 100% of our global corporate fleet to electric by 2030⁵, and expanding ELC’s Responsible Store Design program around the world. 

Improved Equity & Advancement Opportunities

During the year, ELC met or exceeded several supply chain and operations goals:

• Maintained and expanded pay equity⁶ across ELC employees globally.⁷  

• Exceeded the global gender average of STEM workers⁸; 70% of scientists and tech professionals across ELC are women, and women lead all R&D and Innovation Centers.
• Progressed toward ELC’s 2025 goal of mobilizing employees to drive a total of $25 million to nonprofits of their choice. Through employee engagement initiatives such as donating, volunteering, and participating in company matching campaigns, fiscal 2024 brought the total to $24.2 million donated since 2015.^{9, 10}
• Supported more than 60 organizations worldwide through ELC’s Breast Cancer Campaign, addressing the needs of local communities and advancing the mission to help create a breast cancer-free world.
• Expanded the WRITING CHANGE initiative, established in partnership with poet, activist, and Estée Lauder Global Changemaker Amanda Gorman. Met the initial funding goal to support a total of 10 nonprofit organizations across the United States that enable access to literacy and education resources, advocate for representation in literature, and encourage artistic expression.