Organizational Governance

Unilever Accelerates Zero-Waste Goal Amid Continued Growth

Unilever today announced that more than 50% of its factories achieved the goal of sending no waste to landfill in 2012. This achievement has prompted the company to stretch its original zero-waste target by bringing its commitment for 2020 five years forward.

By Jennifer Elks | Published 13 years ago | About a 2 minute read

The news was announced while the company reported annual sales of €51 billion — up from €40 billion earned when Unilever set its vision of doubling the size of its business while reducing its environmental impact and increasing its positive social impact. The company has already reached the milestone of 100% of sites sending zero waste to landfill in 18 countries, equivalent to removing more than one million household bins of waste every year.

Presently, over 130 Unilever factories across the world, from Costa Rica to Japan, send no non-hazardous waste to landfill, up from 74 at the start of last year. Under its Sustainable Living Plan, Unilever announced that by 2020, total waste sent for disposal will be at or below 2008 levels — despite producing significantly higher volumes. Unilever’s new goal consists of all 252 factories worldwide sending no non-hazardous waste to landfill by the end of 2015.

Unilever's Eco-Efficiency Manager Tony Dunnage said: "This is a significant achievement for Unilever as we make progress towards reaching our ambitious sustainability goals. It's a great example of how we are putting our sustainability strategy into action — by decoupling the growth of our business from its environmental impact. Today's landmark demonstrates how our factories are more environmentally responsible, which is helping us to save money to invest in our business. Having over 130 sites not sending waste to landfill equates to a cost saving of almost €70 million, all achieved without the need for capital expenditure.”

Unilever is implementing best practices from all over the world, actively using its global supply chain network to create more environmentally responsible factories. By using the ‘design once and deploy everywhere’ philosophy, the company is driving a sustainable model that is good for the environment and saves costs. New factories will be designed to send no non-hazardous waste to landfill.

Where reduction of waste is not sufficient, the company will reuse, recover or recycle waste to reach its goal of zero waste to landfill. For example, in Russia Unilever collects several tonnes of perforated outer-tea bags annually, which is sold in pet shops as animal bedding, used for wallpaper, etc. In Hefei (China), Unilever reduced plastics to wrap boxes on pallets by replacing it with reusable elastic fabrics.