L’Oréal East Africa has won the overall award at the 2026 Industry Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP) Awards after cutting water consumption, total energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and solid waste at its Mombasa Road plant in Nairobi.
The factory also won category awards for energy management, solid waste management, greenhouse gas emission management and environmental compliance, and was first runner-up in water use management. It also received a RoSPA Gold Award for health and safety performance.
Between the 2024 baseline and 2025, the factory increased production output while cutting resource use, according to an assessment by the Kenya National Cleaner Production Centre (KNCPC).
“We believe that business growth and environmental responsibility must go hand in hand,” said Kerstin Bird, L’Oréal’s Sub-Saharan Africa Zone President.
“At this facility, we are demonstrating how focused action on resource efficiency can support production while reducing water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.”
KNCPC administers the RECP Awards under the Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution (SMEP) programme, which the UK Government funds. Partners include the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), the Nairobi Rivers Commission and the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM).
Of 225 industries mapped under the programme, 26 underwent a full in-plant assessment. Recognition went only to facilities that demonstrated measurable, verified improvement across areas including water and wastewater management, energy and emissions, and environmental compliance.
L’Oréal East Africa attributed the results to practical engineering and operational changes. The factory completed its transition to renewable energy in 2024, drawing on a biomass boiler, a biodiesel generator, solar photovoltaic systems and grid supply.
It has also installed a second reverse osmosis unit to improve process water quality, and reuses treated effluent and reverse osmosis reject water for fire hydrant and sanitary systems. In packaging, it has reduced the gauge of its shrink-wrap film without compromising product protection, while its polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles are fully recyclable.
“Every result in this assessment was earned on the factory floor, through careful measurement, disciplined engineering and a team that takes ownership of both safety and the environment,” said Nathan Mutiria, the factory director.
The facility holds a current NEMA effluent discharge licence, and its treated effluent meets the regulator’s discharge standards. It is also certified under Kenya’s Extended Producer Responsibility regulations for plastic packaging.
KAM chief executive Tobias Alando said the achievement showed what was possible “when sustainability is embedded in operational decisions”.
“At Kenya Association of Manufacturers, we believe that a competitive manufacturing sector must also be a safe, sustainable, resource-efficient, and resilient sector,” he said.
The Mombasa Road plant is L’Oréal Group’s only manufacturing site in East Africa. It produces Nice & Lovely, Versman and Gold Touch, alongside Garnier and Mixa, for Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Ethiopia.
The company said the progress supports Kenya’s climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, efforts to restore the Nairobi Rivers Basin and the transition to a circular economy.
It also contributes to the group’s 2030 targets of 100 per cent renewable energy across operated sites, 100 per cent recycled or reused water for industrial purposes in its factories, and half of packaging materials from recycled or bio-based sources.
