The L’Oréal Libramont plant announced today the opening of a biomethane centre developed by Eneco and Bio Energie Europa. The plant now uses 100% green energy and is carbon-neutral.
The first of its kind in Europe, the centre employs state-of-the-art technology to transform biomass from local farmers and the agro-alimentary industry into methane gas, which provides electricity and heat to the L’Oréal Libramont plant. This announcement represents an important step forward in L’Oréal’s commitment to cut carbon emissions in half by 2015.
The fruit of a three-year collaboration, the Libramont site transforms biomass from local farmers and the agro-alimentary industry into methane gas, through a fermentation process. The biogas is then transported to the L’Oréal plant, where it is converted into electricity and heat, providing 100% of the plant’s electricity and 80% of its heat. In this way, more green electricity is generated than required by the factory alone, allowing the surplus power – enough to meet the needs of about 4,000 households – to be injected into the public grid.
L’Oréal is committed to an eco-responsible approach focused on understanding the impact of its business on the environment. The Group has established three significant long-term environmental targets for its plants and distribution centres (2005-2015).
— Cut in half its greenhouse gas emissions (absolute reduction)
— Cut in half its water use per unit of finished product
— Cut in half its waste generated per unit of finished product
In addition to these long-term benchmarks, L’Oréal will continue to publish annual goals for other indicators, and report annually on their progress.