SMART DESIGN

LABELS&LABELING |29
Unilever pushes
sustainable growth
REDUCING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT of its products from materials sourcing to encouraging new
consumer behaviors was the key message of an historic Unilever seminar. Danielle Jerschefske reports
Unilever hosted an intimate group in Washington DC, and simultaneously
in London and Sao Paulo, in April to boldly announce the progress made
with its Sustainable Living Plan launched in November 2010. One of the
world’s largest consumer product companies, Unilever set around 60
targets to be achieved by 2020 through a structured plan around its value
chain. Partners and stakeholders in attendance included regional leaders
from NGOs such as Greenpeace, World Wildlife Fund and the Rainforest
Alliance, GreenBiz.com, government officials, press and analysts. Kees
Kruythoff, president of Unilever North America, said: ‘At Unilever we are
making sustainability a driver for growth. We have made it a part of our
vision and executing it is at the heart of our strategy. We are finding that
when you look at the normal business processes – product development,
sourcing and manufacturing – through the lens of sustainability, it actually
opens up a way for innovation and also cost reduction.’
THE PLAN SETS OUT THAT BY 2020 UNILEVER WILL:
• help more than one billion people improve their health and well-being
• halve the environmental footprint of the making and use of its products
• source 100 percent of its agricultural raw materials sustainably
Already Unilever has reduced its overall environmental footprint by 10
percent through efficiencies in the supply chain and has realized 250
million US dollar cost savings with its program. What’s unique about
the international consumer product supplier’s strategy is that it is taking
responsibility not only for its direct operations, but also for its suppliers,
distributors and – most crucially – consumers who use brands like Dove,
Knorr, Lipton, Lifebuoy and Pureit every day of their lives. ‘Coordinating
communication, education and value to consumers is the only way
Unilever will find long-term success,’ said Kruythoff.
The consumer use phase of a product’s life cycle is the most
challenging because there is no certainty that people will properly place
a plastic container in a recycle bin rather than the trash. So inspiring
consumers to adopt new sustainable products and behaviors is
fundamental to achieving the goals set out in the Unilever Sustainability
Living Plan. Indeed, changing behaviors of consumers is the main barrier
to Unilever reducing the carbon footprint of its products.
The same message came across at the Sustainable Brands conference
in San Diego, which showed that business is collaborating to drive
change and particularly consumer awareness.
Suzanne Shelton of the Shelton Group rightly talked
about ‘The Power of We’. She said: ‘We’ve got to
wake people up and disrupt them!’
UNILEVER HAS ALREADY MADE SIGNIFICANT
PROGRESS IN ITS SUSTAINABILITY CAMPAIGN:
• Today, globally sources 20 percent of energy from
renewables; 100 percent in Europe
• On way to reaching goal of 40 percent renewable
energy sourced by 2020
• On track to meet 2015 commitment to cover all of
its palm oil
requirements from traceable, certified sources
• 35 million people gained access to clean water with
Pureit; goal to reach 500 million by 2020
A key theme has been products that direct
consumers, through clever packaging design, to
reduce energy and water usage whenever possible.
At the recent Finat congress in Athens,
Louis Lindenberg, director of global
packaging sustainability at Unilever,
suggested one possible method of
directing consumers to spend shorter
times in the shower – thermochromic
inks which change color after a set
period of heat buildup.
Unilever CEO Paul Polman
concluded: ‘Sustainable growth will be
the only acceptable model of growth
in the future, Unilever grew well in
2011, but what is encouraging is that
the brands which put sustainability at
the center of their propositions, like
Lifebuoy soap, grew faster than the
average.’
JULY 2012 | L&L