A committed year at Yves Rocher

Botanical Beauty, a unique bond with nature

The creator of Botanical Beauty since 1959, Yves Rocher hand-picks ingredients and strives to continuously offer greener formulas. 2020 is no exception! From carefully selected botanical extracts ingredients to formulas that are cleaner for the environment and your skin, here’s what you need to know.

To create formulas that combine effectiveness, naturalness, and a sensory experience, we start by selecting good ingredients; that’s why 81% of our ingredients are of natural origin, and 100% of our active ingredients are botanical!

And we’ve even taken it a step further: we exclude 300 ingredients in addition to the 1,300 already prohibited by European regulations. For example:
- In 2010, we removed all silicones that are not easily biodegradable from our shampoos.
- In 2018, polyethylene micro-beads were removed from our scrubs and exfoliants, two years before they were banned by legislation.
- In 2019, we removed polymers that are not easily biodegradable from all of our hair products.
- 100% of our shower gels and shampoos are easily biodegradable.

Our botanical sources, the heart and soul of La Gacilly

When we talk about commitment, we don't do things by halves. The village of La Gacilly, in Brittany, France, continues to be a strategic location for Yves Rocher, which grows its eight emblematic plants (Calendula, Cornflower, German Chamomile, Roman Chamomile, Arnica, Mallow, Edulis, and Glacier Lettuce) throughout 60 hectares of certified organic fields.

The maintenance, and even the improvement, of soil health, the ecosystems, and people is guaranteed, and this balance allows the plants grown to be even stronger! These eight signature plants are used in over 30% of our formulas.

The remainder of our botanical ingredients come from all over the world. We select them from partners who share our values and pay great attention to the realities in the field in order to ensure decent working and living conditions for the local communities, as well as fair pay. 

What about the manufacturing and packaging of our products? 

After talking about harvests and elaborate formulas, it’s time to take a look at the packaging of our products. For example, 93% of our PET bottles contain recycled plastic, which saved over 424 tons of plastic in 2018. We prefer to use it in as many products as possible for a more significant impact rather than focusing our efforts on one specific range. And we’re also thinking about the long-term, as we’ve committed to reducing the amount of plastic used in our packaging and to have 100% recyclable and recycled plastic by 2025.

Additionally, in our factories, we are reducing our water and energy consumption and are also investing in renewable energy. More importantly though, the circular economy is what is guiding our thought process. For example, we have implemented a test system to reuse cardboard from our factories to create holiday gift boxes.

Our commitment is also to society

Commitment is also a social value: the Yves Rocher Foundation, of which Yves Rocher has been the leading sponsor since 1991, has given rise to two programs that have seen great success.
After 12 years, the first program, Plant for the Planet, will reach its goal this year of planting 100 million trees throughout the world with the help of 30 NGO partners.
The second program, the Terre de Femmes Award, rewards several women from across the globe each year to thank them, honor them, and support them in their projects to protect the environment and safeguard the planet. Nearly 430 women have already been awarded over the last 18 years.

Commitment means something when words are put into actions—we're the proof. 2020 will, once again, be a year devoted to commitment, as many others were before it and many will be after.