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How British Giant Unilever Plans to Increase Sustainability at Every Stage of the Supply Chain

In 2010 British consumer goods group Unilver unveiled its Sustainable Living Plan. Here Marisa Hurtado from the company discusses Unilever's sustainable origins, goals and how becomining more sustainable is good for business.

When did Unilever begin its green initiative?

Unilever’s sustainable origins go back more than a hundred years. Our British and Dutch founders created two of the first consumer’s brands: Sunlight soup and Blue Brand margarine. At the same time they created businesses with great social values, and with the idea that they should act as agents of social change. It is from them that we have inherited two principles that still apply today and that work as inspiration in the way we handle our business.

1. The health and prosperity of our business is directly associated to the health and prosperity of the communities we serve.
2. A successful business is a responsible business.

Unilever is committed to the implementation of different sustainable practices (social, environmental and economic) all around the world. Our mission is to add vitality to life. We fulfill the daily needs of nutrition, hygiene, and personal care, with brands that help people look good, feel good and get the best out of life.

What are the main steps the company has taken towards becoming more sustainable and environmentally friendly?

Unilever has its Sustainable Living Plan which has the purpose of growing our business in a way which helps improve people’s health and well-being, halve our environmental impact and enhance livelihoods.

Some of the objectives established in the Plan to be accomplished by 2020 include:

• Help more than a billion people to improve their hygiene habits and bring safe drinking water to 500 million people.
• Halve the greenhouse gas impact of our products across their lifecycle.
• Halve the water associated with the consumer use of our products.
• Halve the waste associated with the disposal of our products.
• Source 100% of our agricultural raw materials sustainably.
• Link more than 500,000 smallholder farmers and small-scale distributors into our supply chain.

Do you have, or are you considering the LEED qualification or an alternative?

Yes, we are looking to certify the new Unilever Plant in Cuernavaca under LEED qualification.

How do you involve your supply chain in your sustainable initiatives?

In Unilever we are aware that environmental impact comes from more than just our own operations. So, we are partnering with suppliers, customers, and consumers to grow our company while reducing our environmental impact.

Our plan explicitly addresses the complete value chain from suppliers through production to distribution and final use. It covers environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainability.

We are fortunate in being able to base this work on more than 15 years’ work on eco-efficiency in manufacturing, 10 years on sustainable agricultural sourcing, and a company-wide ethos that stretches back to our founders’ sense of social purpose more than 100 years ago.

Our target to halve the environmental footprint of the making and use of our products ‘per consumer use’ by 2020 goes further than our manufacturing operations. It covers the full value chain from sourcing through to consumer use and disposal. Even here, by achieving this target we will reduce the absolute environmental impact of our products across the value chain.

How can you make sustainability “pay off”, not just in terms of social gains, but also in terms of the bottom line?

At Unilever we have a vision - to double the size of the company while reducing our environmental impact. Over half of Unilever’s sales are in developing countries, the very places which face the greatest sustainability challenges – deforestation, water scarcity, poor sanitation. These countries represent major growth markets for Unilever, so if we can develop products today that help people adapt to the changing environment of tomorrow, it will help us grow faster in the future.

Managing our business sustainably reduces energy use, minimizes packaging and drives out waste. It not only generates cost savings, it can also save the consumer money.

Do you consider the industry you are in to be a good example in terms of sustainability?

Yes, for Unilever the business case for integrating sustainability into our brands is clear and persuasive because:

• It drives consumer preference around the world that want reassurance that the products they buy are ethically sourced and protect the earth’s natural resources;
• We win with customers due to the fact that many retailers have sustainability goals of their own. They need the support of suppliers like Unilever if they are to achieve them. We share our expertise in areas such as sustainable agriculture and lifecycle analysis. This collaboration is broadening and deepening the relationships we have with our customers;
• It fuels sustainable innovation, allowing us to deliver new products with new consumer benefits and,
•  It allows us to grow our markets and generate cost benefits.