Making poop beautiful: L'Oreal cosmetics to run factory on cow waste

We knew that the use of biomass as an energy source was growing, but we didn't know it had gone chic. L'Oreal Cosmetics has announced that they are installing a biomass system at their factory in Libramont, Belgium where they produce many of their brands' haircare products.

The plant will feature an anaerobic digestion system that will capture methane from waste that comes from nearby cattle farms. When the system's installation is completed at the end of the summer, methane will be used to generate 85% of the plant's power. Even better is that this is just a single step in the cosmetics giant's plan to cut their factory and warehouse emissions in half by 2015 (based on 2005 levels).

In order to meet their goal, the company will be installing additional on-site renewable energy systems like solar PV and solar thermaland buying more green power from suppliers.

The company also hopes to cut their water use by 30 to 35 percent in the same time frame by using rainwater capture and steam-cleaning technologies.

It's great to see a large beauty company like L'Oreal making substantial commitments to reducing their emissions and water use. Now, to get them to make significant changes in their packaging and ingredients...

via Business Green