P&G Sustainability Report: Normalized Energy Down 16% Since 2007

by | Nov 26, 2012

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The Procter & Gamble Company has cut its energy use per unit of production by 16 percent since 2007 and by 52 percent by 2002, according to the company’s latest corporate sustainability report.

The company’s report does not include exact figures for normalized consumption, only percentage reductions. It does, however provide absolute usage figures. P&G used 72.3 million GJ of energy in the year ending June 30, 2012, representing a 7 percent reduction since 2007 and a 2.3 percent reduction year-on-year.

The company’s carbon emissions dropped in similar amounts to its energy usage. P&G’s CO2 emissions per unit of production have fallen 54 percent since 2002 and 14 percent since 2007. The company’s absolute emissions have fallen 5 percent since 2007. Again, there are no yearly totals for normalized greenhouse gas emissions, but P&G’s normalized scope 1 and scope 2 emissions improved by 1 and 2 percentage points year-on-year over 2002 levels, the report shows.

P&G says that the introduction of cogeneration systems has been key to helping the company achieve a significant reduction in total scopes 1 and 2 CO2. It has also resulted in a net increase in the amount of fuel P&G consumes on-site.

Since 2007 P&G has reduced its waste by 68 percent on an absolute basis and 71 percent on a production-adjusted basis — more than triple its goal of a 20 percent reduction. Since 2002 the company has reduced its normalized waste output by 75 percent.

Over the past year, more than 99.2 percent of all materials entering P&G plants was used in its products or recycled, reused or converted from waste to energy. Two of the company’s Mexican plants increased their recycling rates to 99 percent and 95 percent. The Apizaco plant identified three separate outlets to recycle and reuse their reject paper fibers while the Vallejo plant installed new equipment that allows wastewater to be donated for irrigating parks and green spaces.

P&G also created an interactive tool to educate its employees about the proper disposal methods for every type of waste, and a center that collects specified materials at designated times, which enabled 45 different materials to be recycled. As a result of these and other programs, the plant now ships 13,000 tons of waste to be recycled, reused, or converted to energy, and sends zero manufacturing waste to landfills.

P&G has reduced its water consumption over the past five years by 14 percent on an absolute basis and 22 percent on a production-adjusted basis, exceeding its goal of a 20 percent reduction.

Earlier this month the company announced that all of the pulp used in its tissue-towel, baby care, and feminine hygiene products will be third-party certified by 2015.

Forest Stewardship Council will continue to be the company’s preferred certification. The company has pledged to source 40 percent of the pulp for its tissue-towel products from FSC-certfied sources by 2015. Other certification bodies that P&G will be using for its sourcing goal include Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Systems; Sustainable Forestry Initiative; the Brazilian National Forestry Certification Scheme; and Canada’s National Standard for Sustainable Forest Management.

The company has also pledged to have 100 percent of its paper packaging contain either recycled or third-party certified virgin content by 2020.

In 2006, P&G began requiring certification from all suppliers managing forests. In 2008, it joined WWF’s Global Forest & Trade Network program, which assists companies with sourcing more of their wood and paper products from responsibly managed forests. As part of this WWF collaboration, P&G has engaged more closely with suppliers to encourage FSC certification, and established a baseline from which to set these targets.

Procter & Gamble and the EPA announced in July that that were to embark on a five-year research collaboration to develop a sustainability tool for modeling and assessing product design, material sourcing, and manufacturing options.

The global personal care product company and the EPA’s National Risk Management Research Laboratory signed a cooperative research and development agreement aimed at improving sustainability at manufacturing facilities and at their associated supply chains. The research and development under the agreement will be aimed at helping P&G meet its long-term environmental sustainability vision, announced in September of 2010.

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