Waste & packaging

Our commitment

Halve the waste associated with the disposal of our products by 2020*

Our performance

Given the complexity of calculating the impacts of our product portfolio, we are investing in an automated process to allow us to measure progress regularly.

An interim sample of 2010 data shows that our waste footprint has remained broadly unchanged.

What matters most

Reducing the weight of packaging and increasing recycling.

* Our environmental targets are expressed against a baseline of 2008 and on a 'per consumer use' basis. This means a single use, portion or serving of a product. We set our baseline by calculating the waste from over 1,600 representative products. We did this at an absolute level as well as on a per consumer use basis 14 countries. The calculation covers 70% of our volumes.

  • 0 achieved
  • 7 on-plan
  • 1 off-plan
  • 0 missed target

Our approach

Packaging is important: it protects our products, allows us to transport them safely, and ultimately saves far more energy than it consumes. At the same time it can end up as waste, particularly in those countries where the infrastructure for recycling is poor. We share a responsibility with our consumers to prevent packaging from ending up either in landfill or blighting the landscape as litter.

Packaging improvements can bring immediate business benefits. The more we reduce our packaging, the greater the savings in materials, energy and transport. The challenge is to continue to use packaging that is appealing and effective but to reduce significantly its environmental impacts.

Our approach to this is to reduce, reuse and recycle.

We are reducing the weight of our packaging by using stronger, lighter-weight materials. We are also making our packaging more recyclable and aim to use more recycled material ourselves.

But dealing with ‘post-consumer waste’ – packaging and product thrown away after use by our consumers – presents a different challenge. The infrastructure for dealing with waste varies hugely between countries. To meet our targets, recycling rates in some of our markets must double or even triple. So we face the challenge of working with local governments, NGOs, retailers and others to help build effective programmes for recycling post-consumer waste.

Our Footprint

Our analysis has highlighted that our food packaging is one of the biggest contributors to our waste footprint. But to achieve our goal we will need to reduce waste across all product categories by reducing the weight of packaging and by helping to increase recycling. Tea bags form a significant proportion of product leftovers.

Reduce packaging

5.1By 2020 we will reduce the weight of packaging that we use by a third through:lightweighting materialsoptimising structural and material design developing concentrated versions of our products eliminating unnecessary packaging.

  • 4% reduction in weight, achieved through a combination of lightweighting and material design optimisation.

More on reducing packaging

To achieve our goal of reducing the weight of packaging by a third we need to make small changes to many thousands of packs sold across the world. Our brands typically update their packaging every few years and so our aim is to lightweight or improve the material choice each time a redesign is briefed. For example, in 2011 we redesigned the Unox Cup-a-Soup pouch in the Netherlands, cutting aluminium by a third and overall pouch weight by 6%.

Less plastic, more consumer benefits

Vaseline_Original_Petroleum_Jelly_50ml_FO_42182627-218We have introduced a new design for the Vaseline Petroleum Jelly jar. It has cut plastic by 3%, saving about 113 tonnes of resin a year.

By moving to polypropylene we made the pack more recyclable. It also needs less energy to produce, saving 13,000 MW a year.

At the same time there are clear benefits for the consumer – the packs are more visually appealing and easier to open.

Reuse packaging

5.2We will provide consumers with refills in our home and personal care portfolio to make it possible to reuse the primary pack.

  • We offer refills in a limited number of countries where the consumer habit is well established.

More on reusing packaging

We are finding it difficult to establish a viable business case for refills and so are putting more effort into reducing and recycling instead.

We have nevertheless had some success. In 2011 we launched refill pouches for Sunlight dishwashing liquid in South Africa. These weigh around 90% less than the original plastic bottle.

Recycle packaging

5.3Working in partnership with industry, governments and NGO s, we aim to increase recycling and recovery rates on average by 5% by 2015 and by 15% by 2020 in our top 14 countries. For some this means doubling or even tripling existing recycling rates.We will make it easier for consumers to recycle our packaging by using materials that best fit the end-of-life treatment facilities available in their countries.

5.4By 2020 we will increase the recycled material content in our packaging to maximum possible levels. This will act as a catalyst to increase recycling rates.

  • 3.4% increase in recycling and recovery rates, averaged across our top 14 countries. Some of this increase resulted from improved data.
  • 1,700 tonnes of post-consumer recycled materials incorporated into our rigid plastic packaging in 2011.

More on recycling packaging

We have initiated a number of projects from which we are hoping to select the most successful to be rolled out elsewhere. Many of our projects incentivise consumers to start recycling. Others explore systemic solutions through improving local waste infrastructure, working with local government and waste services providers.

Recycling aerosols

Future_Launch_Rexona_LINE-UP_Aerosols_125x220As leaders of the global deodorant market we want more people to recycle aerosol cans. In July 2010 we started a pilot in partnership with the leading Brazilian supermarket, Pão de Açúcar. It was successful and has led to the permanent introduction of aerosol collection at Pão de Açúcar sites. To date we have collected more than 1,600 tonnes of aerosols through 110 collection stations.

Recycling in the bathroom

Although many consumers recycle kitchen waste, the bathroom tends to be forgotten. In 2011 we partnered with RecycleBank in the United States to encourage consumers to recycle Dove and Suave shampoo bottles in return for money off coupons. An online module educated people about what they can recycle, what recycling symbols to look for and then rewarded them with points which could be redeemed for goods and services. The Dove module was viewed 6 million times.

 

Reduce waste from our manufacturing

5.5By 2020 total waste sent for disposal will be at or below 2008 levels despite significantly higher volumes.This represents an 80% reduction per tonne of production and a 70% absolute reduction (versus a 1995 baseline).

5.6All newly built factories will aim to generate less than half the waste of those in our 2008 baseline.

  • Over 62,000 fewer tonnes of total waste† in 2011 than in 2008 – a combination of waste reduction and waste recycling. This represents a reduction of 40% in total waste per tonne of production.†Compared to 1995, this represents an 82% reduction in absolute terms.†† 2011 data is preliminary.
  • During 2010–11 we incorporated sustainability improvements into every aspect of the design specification for our new factories. These improvements will be incorporated in all new designs from 2012 onwards.

More on reducing waste from our manufacturing

By the end of 2011, 74 of our 258 factory sites had reached zero non-hazardous waste to landfill. Our target for 2012 is to achieve this at half our sites as it brings both significant cost savings and environmental benefits.

†2011 data is preliminary

Tackle sachet waste

5.7Our goal is to develop and implement a sustainable business model for handling our sachet waste streams by 2015.

  • We have demonstrated ‘proof of principle’ on a technology known as pyrolysis which turns sachet laminate into fuel oil.

More on tackling sachet waste

Sachets are an efficient use of packaging, creating less waste by weight per millilitre of product sold than bottles. However infrastructure for recycling or disposal is often limited, leading to litter and potential long-term environmental damage.

If we can help create a value for this waste, there is an incentive for people to collect it. Partnering with a company in Chennai, India, we have demonstrated ‘technical proof of principle’ of turning sachets, pouches and other flexible plastic waste into fuel oil at a viable cost. Our Hindustan Unilever factory in Pondicherry has successfully used the fuel to power its boilers.

The task now is to find a way to incentivise collection on a large scale. This will require us to work in partnership with other users of flexible plastic waste as well as municipal authorities and NGOs.

Eliminate PVC

5.8We will eliminate PVC (polyvinyl chloride) from all packaging by 2012 (where technical solutions exist).

  • Over 95% of PVC removed from our portfolio by end 2011, including the elimination of PVC from our rigid packaging containers and ‘shrink sleeves’.

More on eliminating PVC

We are making good progress towards eliminating PVC. For some packaging however, such as seals in the lids of food products, we are dependent on new commercially viable technology becoming available.

Future challenges

We are not in the waste handling business so to achieve our target of increasing recycling and recovery rates we will need to work in partnership with governments, re-processors and NGOs.

To make a start we are putting more of our own experts on to the task. In 2012 we are appointing packaging managers dedicated to increasing recycling and an advocacy manager who will encourage positive change in government policy on waste.

But in the end our resources will be slender compared to the scale of the challenge facing society. In many countries waste levels are rising well beyond the capacity of the infrastructure to deal with them. None of us can solve this problem alone. Nor is this an area for competitive advantage. Rather we all need to play our part – pooling experience and sharing investment to get to a faster solution together than we can achieve apart.