Sisley and the Environment

Sisley is a French family business conscious of our impact to the environment and our commitment to preserving it.

At Sisley, we focus on organisation and continuous improvement to create high-quality beauty products while reducing our environmental impact. With a pragmatic, consistent approach, we aim to develop long-term relationships with our community and look after everyone who interacts with us.

PROTECTING OUR
NATURAL RESOURCES

Eco-friendly buildings

At Sisley, we have made major investments in all our French sites, particularly our research, administration and logistics site in Saint-Ouen-l'AumĂ´ne (Val-d'Oise) and our headquarters in Paris, to achieve the High Environmental Quality (HQE) standard. Our current projects to extend our production and logistics sites take High Environmental Quality into account.

High Environmental Quality certification is based on a rigorous approach, focusing on four criteria: Quality of life at work, responsible management, economic performance and respect for the environment.

Sisley's various sites are focused on the preservation of the environment.

Our Saint-Ouen-l'AumĂ´ne site has been awarded the prestigious ISO 14001 certification (environmental impact management and reduction) as well as ISO 45001 certification (workplace health and safety). Our Blois production site has also achieved this certification. 

The workspaces at Sisley's Head Offices have been designed to be as aesthetically pleasing as possible to ensure everyone feels welcome.

All of our sites are designed to be attractive and are regularly landscaped so that our staff can work in a bright environment that encourages interaction.

Energy

The most sustainable energy is the energy we do not use and this is the idea behind various measures Sisley has introduced to reduce energy use at our sites.

Since 2011, our Blois production site has halved the average amount of energy needed to manufacture each product thanks to new investments and process improvements (thermal control, machine cycle working), which all generates savings across electricity and gas.

The 18,000 sq. m solar farm on the roof of our Val-d'Oise site is one of the biggest in the Paris region and meets all the offices' energy needs.

Sisley favors the use of hybrid or electric vehicles for its collaborators.

Transportation: We encourage our teams to use hybrid or electric vehicles and have installed electric charging points in our car parks. Our meeting rooms have videoconferencing facilities to limit travel between our sites.

Since 2021, our industrial sites have been powered by biogas.

Since 2021, our industrial sites have been powered by biogas, a green energy source that significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Sisley takes numerous actions on a daily basis to preserve the environment.

Because the little things add up...

We implement various energy saving actions every day to reduce our environmental impact.

For example, we have presence detectors in our offices for lighting, LED lights in working areas and fewer outside lights turned on at night.

Our photocopiers are pooled to stop paper being wasted, alongside our constant recycling, the use of rainwater to water plants and grass, and just a small sample of our energy efficient initiatives...

Water treatment

In the past five years, Sisley has been committed to reducing our water usage by 12%* at our French sites. Meanwhile, production at our Blois factory has increased 47%.


*per tonne of product manufactured

Our production site machines are set up to save water, with closed-loop circuits and a system that cleans containers using rotating nozzles and jets.

Sisley has installed a wastewater treatment technology at its Blois site to reduce water pollution further downstream.

The treatment station at our Blois factory processes wastewater to limit water pollution further downstream, with all the water treated coming out fully clean.

Waste management

At Sisley, we are committed to minimising waste by recycling and reusing any waste generated. 78% of our industrial waste was recycled in 2019: An increase of 33% since 2011.

In Sisley's production and packaging workshops, we reuse most of the packaging materials (bubble wraps, cardboard)

At our production and packaging workshops, we reuse most packaging materials (bubble wrap, cardboard) and work to recycle our instore advertising assets.

Sisley adapts it delivery process by optimising the sizes and packaging of our delivery boxes.

We optimise the size and weight of boxes we send out for delivery.

Sisley's suppliers are encouraged to suggest new ways to reuse our waste and inturn reduce our wastage.

We are in frequent contact with our suppliers, who suggest new ways to reuse our waste. This particularly applies to plastic (PVC, PS, PE).

Transportation

Most of Sisley's products are made in France. Currently, our biggest environmental impact is shipping our products from our Saint-Ouen-l'AumĂ´ne site. This was identified in our Carbon Audit (2019 data) and we are actively trying to reduce this environmental impact.

Sisley favours sustainable modes of transportation.

Wherever possible, we use sustainable transport. In 2020, 80% of our products were shipped by sea, reducing CO2 emissions by an average of 90%. In 2021, we set up alternative solutions such as rail freight.

Sisley uses local distribution channels for procurement wherever these options are available.

Sisley uses local distribution channels for procurement wherever these options are available. 70% of our production suppliers (components, raw materials and subcontractors) are French.

Since 2006, Sisley has aimed to reduce wherever possible, the usage of airplanes for its distribution.

Since 2006, Sisley has increased the amount of stock held by our global warehouses and authorised retailers outside of Europe to continue our committment to replacing plane journeys as much as possible.

Biodiversity

We are conscious of protecting biodiversity when it comes to designing our formulas, working at our sites and collaborating with our communities in France and elsewhere. To this end, we carry out a range of specific local activities.

At our Saint-Ouen-l'AumĂ´ne site, we have installed ecofriendly, green roofs and green parking spaces to limit the building's impact on its surroundings and encourage rainwater to percolate (preventing flooding).

Sisley supports projects that aim to protect the environment and biodiversity both locally, in France and globally.

Sisley promotes responsible agriculture by reusing by-products from other industries. These include saffron flower extract, a key active ingredient in the Velours aux fleurs de Safran range, which comes from the food industry.

The planting of nearly 4,000 trees and shrubs in Blois and Saint-Ouen l'Aumône.

Sisley supports projects that aim to protect the environment and biodiversity both locally, France and globally. On French Guyana's Cayenne Peninsula, the Sisley Foundation has partnered with the Coastal Protection Agency and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) to create the Sisley Laurel Garden for studying and protecting these plants.

Sisley For Nature

Our main aim is to reduce our environmental footprint by lowering our CO2 emissions and we are fully committed to this objective. However, even our most diligent work in this area will not make us carbon neutral on its own as every activity has an impact.

This is why we launched the Sisley For Nature programme in 2022. Each year, it supports and funds carbon offsetting projects and measures to protect biodiversity and ecosystems in France, working as closely as possible to our affiliates or in partnership with our suppliers.

LIMITING OUR PRODUCTS'
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Our formulas

Sisley's laboratories are at the cutting edge of research and innovation examining how our skin adapts and response to our products. Our scientific teams select ingredients based on how safe, effective and sustainable they are.

Sisley has made numerous investments in ecotoxicity.

Significant investment has been made in ecotoxicity (analysing our ingredients' environmental impact).

Sisley implements a sustainable supply policy with its suppliers.

We have a sustainable procurement policy with our suppliers to ensure that raw materials are traceable (so we know the source plant and its country of production).

Sisley uses local distribution channels for procurement wherever possible. This makes France our top supplier of active ingredients. Buckwheat is one example: the extract found in some Sisley skincare and makeup is grown in Brittany.

Sisley asses the environmental and social issues of each sector.

We assess each affiliate's environmental and social credentials and ensure that any producer's working conditions are met in full.

Sisley selects partners who are committed to RSPO certification for palm-based ingredients.

Sisley selects partners who are committed to RSPO certification for palm-based ingredients (with the goal of improving sustainable palm oil traceability through to final use) and to protecting endangered species (CITES list and IUCN Red List).

Our packaging

At Sisley, we actively work to improve our product packaging, instore advertising assets and transport packaging by focusing on our impact on the environment. This means reducing our packaging, making it more recyclable while maintaining our high quality standards and using eco-friendly solutions.

Analysis of our packaging's environmental profile is routinely done using the Sustainable Packaging Initiative for Cosmetics (SPICE) tool developed in collaboration with other brands within the cosmetics sector

Sisley aims is to design packaging that requires fewer resources.

We work with our suppliers to suggest increasingly innovative ideas, with the aim of designing packaging that requires fewer resources (optimising size and weight) in addition to using recycled or biosourced materials wherever possible.

Sisley limits the use of packinging documentation to reduce waste.

To further reduce our packaging waste, we limit the use of documentation relating to purchased products.

Sisley is committed to the 4R approach: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle packaging and Reincorporate recycled materials.

In line with the Plastic Act, an action plan published by the Federation of Beauty Companies (FEBEA) in spring 2021 for sustainable cosmetics packaging. Sisley is committed to the four Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle packaging and Reincorporate recycled materials (plastic, glass and other recyclable materials).

A JOINT EFFORT

Committed staff

Our dedicated Sisley staff play a key role in our eco-strategy and committment to preserving our environment.

Sisley employees are committed to the environment on a daily basis, specifically in recycling.

They rally round and come up with new and innovative ways to encourage appropriate recycling. Our sites have different recycling options to help us do the right thing: Paper, card, metal tins, glass, plastic lids, batteries and compost

Sisley staff are involved in the reduction of plastic waste.

Sisley staff help reduce plastic waste by drinking from mugs and water bottles instead of single-use plastic.

Sisley staff are regularly invited to meet with local producers.

We create opportunities for our teams to meet local producers by arranging artisan and organic garden markets, and facilitating direct sales by the beekeeper who harvests our hives.

Working with our suppliers

Sisley uses a responsible procurement policy. To do this, we work on building long-term relationships with our partners and find the right economic balance. Our aim is to enable everyone to succeed, while protecting people and the environment.

70% of Sisley's producers are French.

Local: 70% of our suppliers for production (components, raw materials and subcontractors) are French.

Long-term aspiration: We have commercial relationships dating back over 10 years with 69% of our strategic suppliers, and over 20 years with 30%.

Sisley's suppliers are at the heart of the companies projects.

Our suppliers are at the heart of what we do. Each year, we discuss how to keep improving social, environmental and ethical credentials (using the Ecovadis tool and internal/external audits) and remedial plans are introduced if required.

The beauty sector is evolving

Sisley collaborates with cosmetics businesses in several strategic areas...

Sisley uses tools to promote good environmental practices in the beauty sector.

The SPICE tool (reducing the environmental impact of cosmetics), the Plastic Act (an ambitious and practical joint action plan for sustainable cosmetic packaging) and other tools and programmes promote good environmental practices within the beauty sector.