Procter & Gamble (P&G)
has saved over one billion dollars in value since 50 of its manufacturing
plants achieved zero manufacturing waste to landfill last year.
P&G’s Vice President, Global
Sustainability, Dr. Len Sauers said that the savings where brought about by the
P&G’s 2020 sustainability goals where all of our manufacturing waste is
recycled, repurposed or converted into energy.
“This part of sustainability is
important because it shows businesses the value of embracing sustainability
whether environmental or social,” said Mr. Sauers.
Mr. Sauers who was on his first
visit to Kenya said that Africa is P&G’s major growth engine and it was
important that the company learns how to expand responsibly and still remaining
profitable. He added that the company aims to maintain its global leadership
and performance in the region.
P&G first announced its zero
manufacturing waste to landfill site in Budapest in 2007. Since then, the
Company has shared a long-term Environmental Vision, pledging to work toward
zero consumer and manufacturing waste worldwide.
“Through quality assurance,
packaging reduction, compaction and recycling efforts, the company now ensures
that 99% of all materials entering P&G plants leave as finished product or
is recycled, reused or converted to energy,” added Mr. Sauers.
To drive all sites toward zero
waste, P&G has searched for innovative ways to find value in what was once
seen as waste. In Mexico, paper sludge from a Charmin toilet tissue plant is
turned into low-cost roof tiles used to build homes in the local community. At
a U.S. Pampers site, scrap from the wipe manufacturing process is converted to
upholstery filling. And, in the U.K., waste created in the production of
Gillette shaving foam is composted then used to grow turf for commercial uses.
However, Sauers notes that the
next challenge is the long term goal of achieving zero consumer waste since
approximately 4.8 billion people around the world use P&G products every
day. He said that the company continues to invest heavily on research and
development to identify and enumerate the impact of its products and how
innovation can help achieve zero waste.
For more details, please call Michelle
Anekeya 0721945183
