The Estée Lauder Companies’ travel retail unit announced new sustainability goals centered on emissions, waste and energy. Travel retail is one of the company’s highest growth channels and touches more than one billion consumers a year, according to ELC. 
 
“The Estée Lauder Companies and its brands have made great strides to ensure we continue to be a company rooted in values and it is important that we do our part in travel retail to uphold this vision. By implementing sustainability goals for travel retail, we are furthering the company’s commitment to the environment and demonstrating to travelers how we are making a positive impact in this space,” said Olivier Bottrie, global president, travel retail and retail development, The Estée Lauder Companies. “We look forward to continuing the necessary work to lead in this space and sharing our progress with our employees and consumers.”
 
ELC notes that sustainability is increasingly top of mind for travelers. According to a recent study by the Tax Free World Association (TFWA), over 70% of participants noted that they would be influenced by sustainability credentials when purchasing an item during their travels.
 
The goals announced are:
 
Emissions¹

• Achieve net zero carbon emissions for transportation to travel retail customers by the end of fiscal year 2023
• Achieve net zero carbon emissions for all corporate travel retail worldwide business air travel by the end of fiscal year 2023.²

 
Packaging:

• Transition all travel retail exclusive (TREX) paper cartons to responsibly sourced FSC-certified board by 2025.
• Reduce plastic usage by removing plastic film-wrap from travel retail exclusive outside cartons by 2023.

 
Store Design and Visual Merchandising:

• Incorporate sustainability practices in travel retail new store design and visual merchandising across all brands, including with respect to materials starting in fiscal year 2021.

Sustainable Building Operations:

• Deploy sustainability practices across all travel retail office locations by the end of fiscal year 2023.

 
“The Estée Lauder Companies’ commitment to citizenship and sustainability reflects our belief that our long-term business success depends on our ability to make conscious decisions to embed sustainable practices across our entire value chain,” said Nancy Mahon, SVP-global corporate citizenship and sustainability, The Estée Lauder Companies. “We feel confident that the ambitious steps our travel retail team is taking will not only accelerate progress towards our company’s sustainability goals, but will also make a tangible impact on the travel retail industry, enabling consumers to make more environmental choices.”
 
For example, by eliminating film-wrapping from the packaging of travel retail exclusive sets, travel retail will avoid 54,000 kilograms of plastic waste – the equivalent of eliminating 5.4 million 500mL plastic water bottles.³
 
Since the launch of travel retail’s sustainability initiatives, progress has been made in both packaging and store design. In packaging, as of fiscal year 2020, 83% of travel retail exclusive paper cartons are already FSC-certified. In store design, the newly opened Estée Lauder, La Mer and MAC counters at Hyundai COEX in Seoul, Korea were built with, on average, 80% reused display fixtures, reducing waste and environmental impact while maintaining brand equity.
 
“We recognize that this is the first step for travel retail in what will be an ongoing journey, but we look forward to being a part of the solution and feel that by taking these critical steps, The Estée Lauder Companies and travel retail is recommitting to its values to bring the best to everyone we touch,” added Bottrie.
 
For more information on ELC’s sustainability commitments, visit the fiscal year 2020 Citizenship and Sustainability Report.
 

References:
1. Travel Retail’s business air travel and transportation emissions contribute to ELC’s Scope 3 footprint
2. Excludes travel by counter beauty advisors.
3. Based on FY20 sales volumes