These days, people tend to emphasize consumption more than saving, spending on what's new rather than cherishing what you have already. And yet, most of what we produce with precious natural resources end up being discarded. Most consumer goods we throw away become waste, rather than being reused or recycled, giving a huge burden on the environment.

This is now a new concept to reduce environmental impact, while vitalizing the economy by maintaining consumption and production. This new concept is a combination of two words: "circular" and "economy", i.e. a circular economy. In this episode, we will explore how global companies such as Amorepacific are taking the initiative for innovations around resource efficiency while also reducing their overall environmental impact through the circular use of resources.

Circular use of resources and sources of energy is key to resolving climate change caused by greenhouse gases (GHGs). Carbon dioxide, which accounts for the majority of GHG emissions, is generated during combustion when fossil fuels (e.g. coal and oil) are converted into energy. As such, CO2 is typically generated as a consequence of the production process. Accordingly, there is a growing number of global business practices to implement "Carbon Neutral" initiatives aimed at reducing actual carbon emissions to zero by executing a measure to increase carbon absorption as much as unavoidably generated carbon emissions.

L'Oréal announced an aggressive goal to realize "Carbon Balanced Company" by 2020. To this end, the company set out and implemented a carbon reduction strategy covering the entire supply chain.
To increase the proportion of renewable energy used in production, L'Oréal raised the percentage of replacement of sources of renewable energy, such as biomass, hydraulic power and solar power, to 34 percent across its worldwide sites. The company has achieved carbon neutral status in nine plants, including its China plant that uses electricity from hydraulic power alone and Spain plant using only sources of renewable energy.
To reduce carbon emissions from its supply chain, the company is conducting improvement activities in three broad areas: energy efficiency, forest preservation and improvement of farming method. For example, to improve energy efficiency in the production of raw materials, L'Oréal engaged in improving traditional wooden ovens in a shea butter processing plant in Africa, consequently reducing energy consumption of the plant by 50 percent.

Another key to the circular economy is to tackle problems like resource depletion by improving the efficiency of resources through innovations.

The core circular economy practice of the Coca-Cola Company, which sells 1.9 billion bottles of beverages in over 200 countries each and every day, is to design renewable and recyclable packaging. Packaging has been pointed out as one of the major causes of waste generation. The Coca-Cola Company has increased the use of recyclable PlantBottle™ packaging and focuses large parts of its R&D on eco-friendly packaging sources, such as plant stems and fruit peels.

There is a growing movement worldwide to building an ecosystem for resource circulation in order to tackle environmental change derived from such problems as climate change and lack of water resources, while building a sustainable place of living for future generations. Then, what has Amorepacific been doing to contribute to the circular economy ecosystem?

According to The Sixth Wave : How to Succeed in a Resource-limited World, a book that predicted changes in our society until 2050, the sixth wave will start with a revolution in resource use. Resources on Earth are by their nature limited. Given the inexorable increase in consumption, there will inevitably be a long-term rise in the cost of natural raw materials. Only corporations who raise their efficiency through recycling and identify solutions to reduce carbon emissions will be able to preoccupy new opportunities for long-term growth and capture the future market.
While pursuing a healthy win-win outcome between humans and the environment, Amorepacific is committed to minimizing negative environmental impact derived from business activities. Please keep paying attention to Amorepacific's efforts to pursue the circular use of resources while striving to realize carbon neutral in all our operating environments, including production and transport.