Procter & Gamble reveals a new sustainability vision
P&G sets out ambitious new targets designed to use 100% renewable energy and cut carbon emissions and waste while using 100% renewable energy.
Procter & Gamble laid out a plan to develop its new ‘sustainability vision’. In the plan, the company sets a series of 10-year goals that will, over the course of the coming decades, result in a global company that: uses renewable energy for 100% of its factories, uses 100% renewable or recycled materials for all products and packages, and sends zero consumer or manufacturing waste to landfills.
The largest consumer goods company in the world, Procter & Gamble, announced the new sustainability goals in a webcast yesterday morning that included the chief executive of P&G, Bob McDonald; the company's vice president of global sustainability, Len Sauers; and Carter Roberts, the president and chief executive of the World Wildlife Fund.
McDonald said that, although the goals set by P&G proceed on ten-year increments, the company will report on its progress in its yearly sustainability reports. He added that there was a possibility that the sustainability goals weren’t achieved in 10 years, but the company would hold themselves accountable for continually moving toward it.
'What's important is that we don't treat environmental sustainability as something separate from our base business,' McDonald said during the webcast. 'When we operate sustainably, we earn gratitude, admiration and trust that lead to opportunity, partnerships and growth...which, in turn, helps us touch and improve even more lives. That's why we are accelerating our commitment to environmental sustainability.'
P&G has developed this ‘sustainability vision’ partnering with external experts and soliciting input from hundreds of P&G employees.
McDonald added that they had developed this ‘sustainability vision’ over the course of a year, partnering with external experts and soliciting input from literally hundreds of P&G employees at all levels and functions. He said that they will need to continue collaborating with suppliers, with consumers, with retailers and their industry, as no company can have all the answers, but just be part of the solution.
The first set of 10-year sustainability goals, to be achieved by 2020, include replacing 25% of petroleum-derived raw materials with sustainably sourced, renewable materials; reducing packaging by 20% per consumer use; powering company operations with 30% renewable energy; and reducing waste from manufacturing to less than 0.5%.
Sauers brought up some of the work Procter &Gamble has done that links with the goals, such as installing solar panels at manufacturing sites in California and Italy, nearly eliminating PVC from packaging, and redesigning products like Ariel laundry gel, which has been compacted and works in cold water.
One of the partnerships that P&G will leverage to help reach its goals is the one showcased during yesterday's webcast: Its partnership with the World Wildlife Fund will focus on renewable materials and sourcing, paper and packaging, energy and water, and on-the-ground conservation efforts.