Water Stewardship Policy
Water Stewardship Policy
Background
We use water as an ingredient to make our products, as well as for cleaning and cooling manufacturing equipment. Our Research & Innovation (R&I) and Quality teams also rely on water to perform testing, in analyses, and to develop new products. Access to high-quality water is essential to our business, and we are committed to reducing our impact on local water resources and ecosystems through implementation of our water stewardship strategy. Additionally, we recognize that water stewardship is important to both mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change.
Water Stewardship Strategy
At The Estée Lauder Companies (we, us, our, or ELC)1, we are committed to responsible water management and developed our water stewardship policy to focus on key areas where we intend to make progress. Furthermore, our policy offers opportunities for meaningful engagement in causes that matter to employees, consumers, communities, and suppliers.
Promote Water Circularity in Direct Manufacturing
Within our manufacturing operations, water is used as an ingredient in our products; however, this accounts for a small percentage of our total usage. One of our main water uses supports cleaning and cooling processes. Recognizing this, we prioritized investments and initiatives that improve water efficiency in these areas, enabling us to achieve our 2025 goal and accelerate progress toward our 2030 goal: reducing absolute water withdrawal from direct manufacturing sites by at least 50% (baseline: FY’19)2 by the end of calendar year 2030, with a focus on high and extremely high water-stressed sites. We are progressing toward our goal through continued implementation of efficiency measures, closed-loop cooling systems, and advanced wastewater treatment technologies. Through innovation and initiatives to reduce/reuse/recycle water, that in some cases go beyond regulatory compliance, we are advancing water circularity across our direct manufacturing operations.
Engage Our Supply Chain
We work diligently to manage environmental and social impacts beyond our own operations and within our supply chain, requiring our suppliers to adhere to the principles outlined in our Supplier Code of Conduct. In collaboration with key suppliers and select organizations, we are driving sustainability initiatives and collaborations forward, helping to innovate and connect at both local and global levels.
We assess suppliers’ sustainability initiatives, including measures to improve water efficiency, through EcoVadis assessments. We engage with suppliers who do not achieve a "satisfactory" score to help them improve, and we reassess them periodically until they meet, at a minimum, the "satisfactory" requirement. We also invite key suppliers to disclose water risks and opportunities and actions taken to reduce their environmental impacts through CDP Water Supply Chain. Through these efforts, we aim to strengthen ties with these suppliers and seek to further engage with them on water-related issues.
Understand Shared Water Challenges
We assess global water-related risks to inform our business decision-making. At key manufacturing locations, we have also conducted Source Water Vulnerability Assessments (SVAs) to gather data, in alignment with the International Water Stewardship Standard (AWS Standard). The SVAs help us identify impacts and dependencies, community-shared water challenges, and important water-related stakeholders. We continue to leverage the SVA findings and our biodiversity risk assessment1,3 to shape local water action plans that build on existing ELC and brand initiatives, promote collaboration with external partners, and advance nature-based solutions for local ecosystems and communities.
Additionally, we are mindful of industrial wastewater discharge impact on water quality. ELC prioritizes the quality of local water resources through robust wastewater treatment and monitoring procedures to control pollution.
Track and Report Progress
At ELC, we:
- Collect certain data and track the performance of our efforts in respect of existing water-related commitments, publishing this information within our annual Social Impact and Sustainability Report (or other publicly-available report)
- Report progress through CDP Water, the leading framework for disclosing water-related information publicly
- Monitor our suppliers’ sustainability performance through the Supplier Code of Conduct due diligence program
Continuous Improvement
ELC recognizes that our water stewardship commitment is a journey. Therefore, we are working toward improving our operations by embedding a sustainability lens into our capital improvement process. We encourage water efficiency practices such as low flow fixtures at our manufacturing, R&I, and distribution locations, as well as in offices and retail spaces. Within R&I, we continue to improve ingredient selection and product formulation to accelerate progress towards our sustainability goals.
Additionally, our water stewardship strategy aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which refers to the human right to water and sanitation and aims to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” Recognizing that climate change is increasing pressure on water resources and disproportionately affecting vulnerable communities, we aim to contribute to improving water security, including access to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), through stakeholder engagement and collective action in our key watersheds.
As we continue to make progress, we plan to periodically review our performance to inform and evolve our water stewardship strategy, with the intention of setting new goals and targets to drive water circularity and innovation. We also plan to proactively review this policy annually and make updates as needed.
1 ELC, WE, US AND OUR REFER TO THE ESTÉE LAUDER COMPANIES INC. AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES. IN THE CASE OF RECENTLY ACQUIRED SUBSIDIARIES OR BUSINESSES, APPLICATION OF THIS POLICY WILL BE SUBJECT TO A TRANSITION PERIOD, THE LENGTH OF WHICH WILL DEPEND ON THE STATUS AND CAPABILITIES OF THE ACQUIRED BUSINESSES AND/OR ENTITIES.
2 REDUCTION IS FROM A RECALCULATED FISCAL 2019 BASELINE OF 1.6 MILLION CUBIC METERS WATER WITHDRAWAL AT ELC-OPERATED MANUFACTURING SITES.
3 WE ASSESSED AND IDENTIFIED POTENTIAL NATURE-RELATED RISKS WITHIN OUR OWNED AND OPERATED LOCATIONS.