Kimberly-Clark Slashed Scope 1 and 2 Emissions Nearly 35%

(Photo: Solar installed on Kimberly-Clark’s distribution center in Guatamala. Credit: Kimberly-Clark)

by | Jul 9, 2020

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Kimberly-Clark Slashed Scope 1 and 2 Emissions Nearly 35%

(Photo: Solar installed on Kimberly-Clark’s distribution center in Guatamala. Credit: Kimberly-Clark)

American multinational personal care corporation Kimberly-Clark reported achieving a 34.7% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions last year against a 2005 baseline. Their target for 2022 is reaching a 40% reduction.

The corporation known for brands such as Huggies, Kleenex, Andrex, Cottonelle, Scott, Kotex, and Depend, said it had made great progress against its 2022 objective. In 2005, direct Scope 1 emissions were 2.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e) and indirect Scope 2 emissions were 3.0 million MTCO2e.

Last year, those emissions dropped to 2.0 million MTCO2e for Scope 1 and 1.7 million MTCO2e for Scope 2, which Kimberly-Clark said represented a 10.7% emissions decline since 2018.

That progress was driven by several energy management actions, according to the corporation:

  • Two hundred energy conservation projects represented a total GHG emissions reduction of 85,000 MTCO2e.
  • More than 35 lean energy operational systems improvement activities represented a GHG emissions reduction of 30,000 MTCO2e.
  • Eight alternative and renewable energy projects provided a GHG emissions reduction of 130,000 MTCO2e.
  • Structural asset changes, manufacturing footprint optimization, and other non-energy and climate-related activities represented a GHG emissions reduction of 190,000 MTCO2e.

“In 2019, we completed photovoltaic solar installations at four Kimberly-Clark manufacturing and distribution sites located in Tuas, Singapore; Pune, India; Cauca, Colombia; and Guatemala City, Guatemala,” the corporation reported. “Combined, these four projects are capable of generating 3.9 MWh of green electricity.”

The 461 rooftop solar panels on top of their distribution center in Guatemala power operations for the center — and administrative offices, producing 250.6 megawatt-hours annually. That project should save an estimated 127 tons of carbon dioxide per year, according to Kimberly-Clark.

“The sharp reduction in our Scope 1 and 2 emissions has been driven by energy efficiency and conservation programs at our manufacturing sites worldwide as well as wind power purchase agreements in the United States and onsite solar installations in Latin America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region,” Lisa Morden, VP of sustainability at Kimberly-Clark, told Environment + Energy Leader.

The company previously committed to reducing its operations and supply chain by 50% for absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, plus a 20% reduction in absolute Scope 3 emissions, by 2030. Kimberly-Clark said that both of these targets, based on a new 2015 base year, have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative.

In addition, the corporation announced strategies to reduce its forest footprint, increase the use of environmentally preferred fibers, halve its water footprint in water-stressed regions by 2030, and reduce the use of new, fossil-fuel based plastics by 50% by 2030.

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