Join the Refill Movement - L’Oréal Launches Campaign to Promote Refillable Packaging

L’Oréal launched a global marketing campaign earlier this year to promote its refillable packaging solutions. Under the slogan Join the Refill Movement, the company is showing how consumers can switch to making refills part of their daily habits.

French cosmetics group L’Oréal is a leading player in the world of cosmetics and perfumes, with iconic brands such as Garnier, Lancôme, Kerastase and, of course, L’Oréal itself. Packaging is a crucial part of its business strategy, as it plays an important role in consumers’ perceptions. The company has ambitious targets for making packaging lighter and more recyclable and maximising its use of recycled content.

In addition, the group is the driving force behind SPICE (Sustainable Packaging Initiative for CosmEtics), an initiative that brings together various organisations in the industry to work on sustainable packaging. Among other things, SPICE has developed a science-based methodology for ecodesigns for new packaging.

Investing in refillable alternatives

L’Oréal has invested heavily in the development and commercialisation of refillable packaging, or refills, in recent years. For example it has launched a lot of flexible, lightweight pouches that can be used to replenish their classic flasks of hair products. Refills are also available for perfumes, creams and lipsticks.

L’Oréal sees refillable packaging as a strategic part of its packaging policy. Depending on the application, it can save up to 70% of packaging material, according to the company. With Join the Refill Movement, L’Oréal is highlighting these sustainable alternatives and hopes to change the consumers’ mindset.

Reconciling luxury and sustainability

‘Refill-at-home is a good way to reduce the amount of packaging in the industry while maintaining product hygiene’, says Hélène Snyers, Reduce & Reuse Expert at Fost Plus. ‘Attractive packaging – which often uses a lot of material – plays an important role in the perception of products like perfumes or lipsticks. Opting for refills will give that elegant perfume bottle or that pretty lipstick holder a longer life. It’s the ideal way to reconcile luxury and sustainability.’

‘It’s good to see a major player like L’Oréal investing heavily in refillable packaging and leveraging the power of its brands to get consumers on board with this. Communication is crucial, as many of these innovations require significant changes of behaviour. The campaign gives consumers the extra push they need to clear their doubts and make refills part of daily life.’