As Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan reaches its tenth and final year, chief executive Alan Jope has reiterated the company’s commitment to sustainability, and called for collective action to ensure that social inequality and the climate are not neglected in the future.
Speaking at a virtual event, Jope said, “The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan was a game-changer for our business. Some goals we have met, some we have missed, but we are a better business for trying.
“As the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan journey concludes, we will take everything we’ve learnt and build on it. We will do more of what has worked well, we will correct what hasn’t, and we will set ourselves new challenges,” he added.
“While we don’t really know what the world will look like post-COVID-19, I am convinced that there will be no future unless we double down on our commitments to look after people and the planet.”
Sustainable Living Report
Achievements that Unilever have reported against its targets outlined in its Sustainable Living Report include:
- Reaching 1.3 billion people through its health and hygiene programmes.
- Reducing the total waste footprint per consumer-use of products by 32%, and achieving zero waste to landfill across all factories.
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from own manufacturing by 50%, and achieving 100% renewable grid-electricity across sites.
- Reducing sugar across all its sweetened tea-based beverages by 23%, and ensuring that 56% of its food products portfolio meet recognised high nutrition standards.
- Creating a gender-balanced workplace in which 51% of management roles are held by women.
Commenting on the developments, Rebecca Marmot, chief sustainability officer said, “There are many highlights from the last 10 years. Unilever’s Sustainable Living Brands, which include brands such as Dove, Hellmann’s and Domestos, have consistently outperformed the average growth rate of the rest of the portfolio”.
“We have avoided over €1 billion in costs, by improving water and energy efficiency in our factories, and using less material and producing less waste.”
Unilever Compass
Following on from this campaign, Unilever has developed a new corporate sustainability strategy called Unilever Compass, which will be based on the following principles: 'brands with purpose grow, companies with purpose last, and people with purpose thrive'.
The Unilever Compass programme lays out 15 multi-year priorities that will tackle key challenges such as packaging and waste, gender equality, human rights, and fair value, as well as climate change and social inclusion.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Elizabeth Schroeder. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
