Unilever has such massive buying power that any changes in its practices can have market-shifting impact. The company is determined to keep numbers moving in a sustainable direction

For any ordinary company, an 11% reduction in packaging waste sent to landfill, or even a 32% cut in energy-related emissions from manufacturing, might sound like decent, but hardly revolutionary, progress. But consumer goods giant Unilever is no ordinary company. These achievements, detailed in the latest update to the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, might be moderate in percentage terms, but because of Unilever’s sheer size they represent major absolute savings.

For Unilever, with nearly €50bn in sales in 2013, size matters. Its sustainable plan’s implementation can affect whole markets. On palm oil, for example, Unilever has pledged to achieve 100% sustainable sourcing by 2020 – a big incentive for palm oil producers to achieve certification, considering Unilever buys 3% of the world’s supply. The plan also recognises that Unilever has the weight to secure sustainability gains by pushing for widespread consumer behaviour change.

These considerations led Unilever chief executive Paul Polman to somewhat bombastically claim, on the launch of the updated Sustainable Living Plan at the end of April, that “this is not only a Unilever plan, this is a plan for humanity”. Unfortunately, humanity can be stubborn. Unilever admits that it has made more progress in areas over which it has direct control than in greater sustainability for the masses.

Emissions up

On greenhouse gas emissions and on water, Unilever’s impact per customer, including from consumer use of its products, actually increased by 5% and 15% respectively in 2013 compared with 2010. This was partly because of acquisitions and increased sales of water-intensive products (such as laundry detergents). But Unilever has also so far struggled with one of its key pledges – that it would persuade consumers to use less energy and water in washing and showering.

Unilever spokesman Marc Potma says the company will not be deterred. “The consumer use phase of our products’ environmental footprint is harder to address,” he admits, but adds: “We will continue to put a major focus here.” The company is working on products with reduced environmental impact in their use phase. One example highlighted in the updated plan is a compressed deodorant, which halves propellant use and can be fitted into smaller canisters, reducing demand for packaging materials. The company has also started an international motivational campaign, Project Sunlight, to promote more sustainable behaviour.

In fact, Unilever is extending its pledges to boost sustainability beyond its own operations. The updated plan says the company will work to end deforestation, work with small-scale farmers worldwide on sustainable agriculture, and help more than a billion people gain access to clean water.

Ben Kellard, head of sustainable business for Forum for the Future, a sustainability non-profit group that works with Unilever on some of the Sustainable Living Plan aims, says Unilever has at least acknowledged that without going beyond the areas over which it has direct control, its sustainability impact will be limited.

“There is still an awful long way they have to go. They are still making stuff largely from virgin materials that still largely get thrown away,” Kellard says. The Sustainable Living Plan might not yet be leading to radical transformation of the leviathan business, but, Kellard adds, it represents a recognition that transformation is needed, and “that realisation is percolating through the business”.

 

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