Clorox cut its GHG emissions 12 percent in 2013, against a 2011 baseline, and reduced waste sent to landfill per case of product sold 34 percent since 2011, according to the company’s latest integrated report.
Clorox says these operational footprint reductions and sustainability improvements have averaged $15 million in annual cost savings since 2008.
The company’s 2014 annual report, Powered by Value, reviews Clorox’s financial, environmental, social and governance performance in the context of its 2020 Strategy. It says since 2011, Clorox has made sustainability improvements to 15 percent of its products.
The company defines a sustainability improvement as either a 5 percent or more reduction in product or packaging materials on a per-consumer-use basis, an environmentally beneficial change to 10 percent or more of packaging material or active ingredients on a per-consumer-use basis, or a 10 percent reduction in required consumption of water or energy during consumer use. These metrics also represent cumulative progress against a 2011 baseline.
This year’s report builds on Clorox’s integrated reporting efforts and commitment to greater transparency. For the second year, an independent accounting firm provided review-level assurance of key nonfinancial indicators in fiscal 2014. These metrics, indicated by an “A” symbol within the report, include:
- Global greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption
- US water consumption
- Product sustainability improvements
- Workforce demographics/diversity
- US product donations
- Safety/recordable incident rate
- Employee engagement
As of Oct. 11, 2013, Clorox was one of only seven American companies participating in the the International Integrated Reporting Council’s pilot program. The other six: Microsoft, Prudential, Coca-Cola, Jones Lang LaSalle, PR company Edelman, and mining and metals firm Cliffs Natural Resources.
