Estée Lauder invests USD 6.4M in water infrastructure at Oevel site
Oevel is expected to serve as a pilot site for Estée Lauder’s integrated water circularity approach, helping inform future manufacturing and water resilience initiatives across the company’s global operations.
BELGIUM – Estée Lauder has announced a €5.7 million (USD 6.4 million) investment in advanced water infrastructure at its Oevel manufacturing campus in Belgium, responding to growing pressure on European manufacturers to stay competitive while using resources more efficiently.
This investment forms part of a broader transformation at Oevel, one of the company’s largest global manufacturing sites, where new technologies, automation, digital capabilities and upgraded infrastructure are being deployed to build the next generation of beauty manufacturing.
As water resilience becomes increasingly important for communities and industries across Europe, the project introduces an integrated water circularity approach designed to keep water in use longer throughout production, reduce reliance on incoming freshwater and minimize wastewater discharge while maintaining quality and operational reliability.
The initiative is distinctive because it rethinks the entire water cycle within the plant by combining three innovative elements into a single program: reducing freshwater withdrawal through enhanced purified water systems, reusing water within equipment cleaning and sanitization operations, and transforming wastewater into a reusable resource for defined operational purposes such as cleaning and sanitization.
Together, these technologies are expected to lower water intensity from 9.3 litres per kilogram of product to 3.6 litres per kilogram and save approximately 25 million litres of water annually, equivalent to around 10 Olympic‑size swimming pools, while also cutting wastewater discharge and improving operational resilience.
Once proven at Oevel, the system is intended to serve as a scalable model for potential deployment across Estée Lauder’s wider manufacturing network.
Alexander Gregorian, Senior Vice President of Manufacturing & Engineering, said “Beauty Reimagined is about building a more agile, more resilient and more consumer-centric company for the future.”
“Oevel demonstrates how we are translating that ambition into reality through advanced manufacturing, digital innovation and responsible resource management. Just as importantly, the learnings from this project will help inform future manufacturing initiatives across our broader network.”
During a visit to the Oevel campus, Matthias Diependaele, Minister‑President of the Government of Flanders and Flemish Minister for Economy, Innovation and Industry, Foreign Affairs, Digitalisation and Facility Management, met with company leadership and employees to discuss the future of manufacturing and industrial innovation, describing the investment as a strong vote of confidence in Flanders as a leading region for manufacturing and technology that strengthens competitiveness, creates jobs and drives future growth.
Water circularity is one element of a wider transformation underway at Oevel, where recent investments in artificial intelligence, automation, digital manufacturing, logistics and production technologies are helping create a more agile, efficient and future‑ready operation.
This builds on more than €150 million invested at the campus over the past decade across manufacturing, logistics, biotechnology, automation, infrastructure, and sustainability‑related projects.
Sign up to receive our email newsletters with the latest news updates and insights from Africa and the World HERE.
