P&G’s Green Goals Criticized

Procter & Gamble’s move towards green isn’t as significant as it initially appears, argues triplepundit.Last fall, P&G announced a new goal of selling $20 billion of products over the next five years whose environmental impact is at least ten percent less than previously available products.  But according to this article, those numbers are less impressive than they first appear.  One student crunched the numbers to reveal that the eco-targeted $20 billion represents 5 percent of the total sales for the period and that achieving a 10 percent reduction in environmental impact of that 5 percent amounts to a 0.5 percent eco-improvement.

Despite that, this article speculates that P&G will have to be environmentally innovative to compete in some markets.  Take, for instance, Wal-Mart’s  concentrated liquid detergent objective. In October, an article came out saying that Wal-Mart’s objective could cost P&G $200 million.

Still, Triplepundit’s article notes that the environmental initiative P&G announced last fall does signal a deeper shift in its corporate culture.  Last fall, P&G joined other companies in calling for emission’s data of its suppliers.

The stakes are high – research released yesterday found that approximately 50 percent of U.S. consumers consider at least one sustainability factor in selecting consumer packaged goods