Our Eco-Responsible Approach

• Environment-Friendly and Product-Friendly Manufacturing Methods
• Sustainably Managing Our Resources and Waste
• A Winning Alliance with Eco-Responsible Partners

Environment-Friendly and Product-Friendly Manufacturing Methods

Plant Sourcing

- We encourage local cultures in the Beauce region, close to our manufacturing site, to limit picking in the wild and avoid threatening Biodiversity.

- We select varieties of plants with a high content in active principles and we precisely harvest the part of the plant with the richest content (less solvents, less energy-consumption, while at the same time guaranteeing a stable quality).

- We work with farming partners located close to our manufacturing site (less pollution due to transport, improved carbon footprint, improved control and traceability, monitored cultivating techniques in line with the EMEA's Guide to good farming and harvesting practices for plant-origin raw materials (2006), monitoring our plants after harvesting (identification, content in active principles and contaminants) delivered with a complete analysis certificate...

Eco-clean, low-energy manufacturing procedures

Our quantum leap in the field of plant extraction consists in eco-designing, which helps us offer entirely eco-responsible world-exclusive extracts. Each step of the manufacturing process is monitored to guarantee it is Man and Environment-friendly. The solvents used are recycled; the plant residues obtained are biodegradable and composted before being returned to the fields. Our manufacturing processes are low-energy, fully preserving the integrity of the actives, and guaranteeing top-quality extracts.

More precisely:
The extracting process consists of macerating the plants in a natural solvent: water, or a blend of water and plant-origin ethanol. A concentration phase, under vacuum evaporation, is then necessary to eliminate the solvents (ethanol is recycled). Microbiological decontamination is made by flash-pasteurisation, which is a low-energy procedure preserving the integrity of the actives. The extracts are then dried by zeodration*. Finally, the extracts obtained are placed in a Rapeseed-derived glycerin carrier.

Sustainably Managing Our Resources and Waste

Reducing our paper consumption

Electronic catalogues and newsletters to substitute paper copies (saving approximately 70,000 copies altogether each year).

Reducing our water consumption

By training staff, installing meters, etc.

Improving our waste management (A.M.I.'s 3 Rs)

- Reduce (the source of waste)
- Reuse (palettes, packaging, etc.)
- Recycle (composting plant waste from manufacturing)

Global Reflection on our carbon footprint

This reflection helps us optimise our gas and electricity consumption, our product waste, our transport for merchandise and people, etc.

Ecological management of our wastewater: The Filtering Gardens (a world first in cosmetics)

We have developed Filtering Gardens (a natural purifying system for our effluents, by phytoremediation, i.e. using plants to depollute) on our manufacturing site. This system helps recycle water (not in manufacturing but for irrigation for example).

A Winning Alliance with Eco-Responsible Partners

The Cosmetic Valley

We are active members of the Cosmetic Valley, the largest world cluster of resources in the perfume and cosmetics industries, officially labelled 'Competitivity Cluster' by the French State. Alban Muller, its President since 2005, has opened the association up to eco-responsibility.

Alongside the Cosmetic Valley, the Alban Muller Group focuses on collective research projects, and it has participated, in particular, in the elaboration of the Charter for an Eco-Responsible Cosmetic Valley. It was signed last October in the presence of the President of the Senate and companies such as Dior, Chanel, LVMH, Guerlain, etc.

The charter addresses the area of the Cosmetic Valley and guarantees the quality and safety of its products and services, using Man and Planet-friendly methods, while at the same time enhancing relations and creating synergies between companies, institutions and local groups.

The signatories of the charter commit to a progress approach focusing on various actions separated into 4 large parts:

• Environment (reducing water and energy-consumption, managing waste-production, respecting biodiversity, etc.)
• Offer (developing our knowledge on the impact of the products)
• Continuous progress approach (regularly communicating on the actions and progress carried out, and making our staff aware and active in matters of eco-responsibility)
• Societal Relations (buying according to ethical and fair methods, supporting suppliers as much as possible in elaborating fair trade subsidiaries, guaranteeing our partners' work in a safe and ideal work environment, developing their skills in order to maintain their employability in a context of evolving professions)

The Herboretum Association

The Alban Muller Group has supported The Herboretum Association since 2004. The latter takes concrete action in favour of biodiversity according to a programme in 5 points:

• Preserving biodiversity, using environment-friendly cultivating methods
• Highlighting the value of biodiversity, through the presentation of a variety of gardens
• Observing biodiversity, for improved comprehension of its complexity
• Taking part in the follow-up of its evolution
• Making the public aware of its vital role

This garden of preserved and shared biodiversity is located in Saint-Ay, at the heart of the Val de Loire region, south of Paris, a region declared Unesco World Heritage. The aim of the association is to help nature bloom freely, respecting its rhythms, favouring the development of the local floral and fauna species.

Since the beginning of the project, several species of butterflies and rare orchids have reappeared. A great victory for The Herboretum and living proof that nature, when protected and free, is rich, varied, surprising, and promising.