Three years after its first certification, L’Occitane Group reports progress under B Lab’s new standards, bringing corporate accountability into the conversation around responsible beauty.
On 17 September 2026, it announced that entities within its certification scope had achieved certification or recertification under B Lab’s updated standards, following the group’s initial certification in 2023.
Its FY2026 ESG report puts that progress into context: more than five million refill units sold, expanded packaging collection and a certified living wage for all employees covered by its original target. Total greenhouse-gas emissions also fell, although direct operational emissions increased.
A new stage in B Corp certification
The group’s latest B Corp milestone accompanies reported progress on refills, packaging collection and fair pay, detailed in its FY2026 ESG report.
All L’Occitane Group brands held B Corp certification during FY2026, according to the report. Sol de Janeiro and Vranjes Firenze achieved their first certifications under version 1.6 of the standards, while the group began transitioning to the new framework.
The September announcement marks progress in that transition. Some entities have completed certification or recertification under the updated standards; others are working towards their respective milestones. Existing B Corp status and completion of the new assessment are therefore distinct stages.
B Lab’s updated framework requires companies to meet specified requirements across seven impact topics, supported by independent third-party audits and subsequent assessments.
“Responsible business is never static. The new framework encourages us to strengthen our governance, deepen our environmental and social impact and continue learning year after year. That spirit of continuous improvement remains at the heart of our approach.”
Refills and the return of empty packaging
For customers, packaging offers one of the clearest connections between a beauty routine and a brand’s environmental commitments. L’Occitane Group reports sales of more than five million refill units across its collections in FY2026.
L’Occitane en Provence, which introduced refills in 2008, now offers around 30 options across categories including toiletries and face care. The range allows customers to replenish familiar products while retaining their original containers. Encouraging that habit is part of the brand’s strategy, alongside expanding the products available in refill formats.
Its empty-packaging collection programme reached 86% of its own stores worldwide in FY2026. Approximately 5.2 million units were collected through the in-store recycling programme, compared with 4.9 million the previous financial year.
The brand is now reviewing collection practices and recovery infrastructure across key markets. The aim is to adapt its programmes to local waste-management systems and improve how packaging is handled after customers return it.
The people behind the products
The group’s social commitments include a living-wage programme developed with the Fair Wage Network. Its calculations account for local conditions, including average family sizes and the number of household earners.
In FY2026, the group reports that every employee within the original scope of its target received a certified living wage. Its broader Fair Wage Strategy is intended to cover the entire global workforce by the end of FY2027.
That strategy extends to job evaluation, external pay benchmarking, gender pay-gap analysis and annual salary reviews. Together, these measures address how employees are paid and how remuneration decisions are made across the business.
Emissions fall, with further work ahead
L’Occitane Group’s total greenhouse-gas emissions fell by approximately 5% in FY2026 using its market-based calculation, which accounts for electricity purchasing arrangements. The reported total declined from 474,559 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in FY2025 to 452,154 tonnes.
Performance varied across activities. Direct operational emissions rose by 24%, while indirect emissions across the value chain fell by approximately 5%. The report notes that some historical figures were restated following assurance work and updates to emissions factors.
Around 99% of the group’s FY2026 footprint came from its value chain, including purchased goods, transport and customers’ use of products. This makes changes to sourcing, packaging, logistics and product design central to its climate strategy.
For rinse-off products, for example, the footprint extends to the energy used to heat water at home. Packaging carries impacts associated with its materials, transport and disposal. Reducing emissions therefore requires action throughout a product’s lifecycle, including stages beyond the group’s direct operations.
From corporate commitments to daily routines
The FY2026 report gives substance to L’Occitane Group’s latest certification milestone, documenting changes that affect both customers and employees. It also distinguishes completed commitments from future targets and shows where environmental performance remains uneven.
For the beauty industry, the significance lies in connecting these areas of responsibility. A refill depends on packaging design and customer participation; a collection programme depends on local recovery infrastructure; fair pay requires consistent assessment across markets.
As L’Occitane Group progresses through the new B Corp framework, its report provides a reference point for tracking those efforts, and understanding how they shape the products and practices behind everyday beauty.
Sources: L’Occitane Group ESG Report FY2026, pages 7–8, 24, 50–51 and 63–64; L’Occitane Group’s press release of 17 September 2026.
