Unilever today announced that since 2008 the company has achieved a CO₂ reduction of more than one million tonnes from its manufacturing and logistics operations. This is equivalent to taking 250,000 cars off the road. This milestone was achieved while growing sales by 26% from €40.5 billion in 2008 to €51.3 billion in 2012. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a key target within the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, the second-year progress on which will be published on 22 April.

John Maguire, Unilever’s Group Manufacturing Sustainability Director said: “CO₂ emissions and climate change continue to present businesses with significant challenges. But, they also offer opportunities. Our primary focus is to reduce overall energy use by improving the eco-efficiency of everything we do in our factories, offices and other operations. We leverage our global scale by selecting ideas that have the best financial and eco-efficiency payback and then implement them globally. We are also committed to ensuring as much as possible of the energy we use comes from sustainable sources, for example 100% of the electrical energy we buy in Europe and North America comes from renewable sources.”

“Eco-efficiency isn’t just about reducing the environmental footprint it also makes good business sense. Since 2008 our eco-efficiency programmes have avoided more than €300 million of costs. Almost €100 million in energy; €186 million in materials; €17 million in water; and €10 million in waste disposal. The benefits are very clear in a world where energy prices are increasing,” Maguire adds.

Game changers

The one million tonnes CO₂ reduction is a combination of 838,000 tonnes CO₂ achieved from improvements in manufacturing activities and 211,000 tonnes CO₂ reduction from making global logistics operations more efficient. Unilever is continuously improving eco-efficiency in manufacturing and logistics. Below some examples of game changers in 2012:

• Cost efficient renewable energy from biomass boilers have the double benefit of reducing bio-waste and helping the company to reach its 40% renewable energy target. Unilever now has 30 biomass boilers globally supplying more than 7% of our renewable energy, with six more planned for this year in Latin America, Africa and Asia;
• Combined Heat and Power plant (CHP) is another technology that not only helps Unilever to save money through reduced energy costs, but also to achieve a reduction in CO₂ emissions. In Europe, using CHP has helped to reduce CO₂ by 50,000 tonnes and save €10 million. In 2013, Unilever is planning to install CHP units in Mexico and South Africa;
• Unilever is also maximising transport efficiencies through the creation of the UltraLogistik control tower in Katowice (Poland). The control tower model enables more efficient coordination of thousands of transport movements across road, rail, sea and air of Unilever products reducing CO₂ and improving customer service. Last but not least it also saved the company €50 million in costs since 2008. As part of the UltraLogistik transport network Unilever is creating regional distribution hubs. These will improve operational efficiency and reduce distance travelled by 175 million km in Europe alone. This benefit was a key factor for Unilever being awardeda Marco Polo grant of €5.7million to invest and develop sustainable transport of goods across Europe. The UltraLogistik model is now being rolled out globally.

This announcement follows the progress in sustainable sourcing with now over 1/3 of all agricultural raw materials being sourced sustainably. In January, Unilever announced that 133 of Unilever’s manufacturing sites achieved zero non-hazardous waste to landfill by end 2012.

More information, or if you wish to receive the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan progress report on 22 April, please contact:

Unilever
Flip Dötsch
Flip.Dotsch@unilever.com
+31 (0) 10 217 3715
+31 (0) 6 11375464

About Unilever

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products with sales in over 190 countries. Our products are present in 7 out of 10 homes globally and are used by over 2 billion people on a daily basis. We work with 173,000 colleagues around the world, and generated annual sales of €51.3 billion in 2012. Over half of our company’s footprint is in the faster growing developing and emerging markets (55% in 2012). Working to create a better future every day, we help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. Our portfolio includes some of the world’s best known brands such as Knorr, Persil / Omo, Dove, Sunsilk, Hellmann’s, Lipton, Rexona / Sure, Wall’s, Lux, Rama, Ponds and Axe.

Our vision is to double the size of our business, whilst reducing our environmental footprint (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal) and increasing our positive social impact. We are committed to helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, sourcing all our agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020, and decoupling our growth from our environmental impact. Supporting these goals are seven commitments underpinned by targets spanning our social, environmental and economic performance across the value chain. See more on the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan at www.unilever.com/sustainable-living.

Unilever has been recognised in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes for 14 consecutive years. We are included in the FTSE4Good Index Series and attained a top environmental score of 5, leading to inclusion in the FTSE4Good Environmental Leaders Europe 40 Index. In 2012, for the second year in a row, Unilever led the Climate Counts Company Scorecard and topped the list of Global Corporate Sustainability Leaders in the GlobeScan / SustainAbility latest annual survey. The company is an employer of choice in many of the countries in which it operates and is seen as a symbol for innovation and leadership development.

For more information about Unilever and its brands, please visit www.unilever.com.

Unilever

Unilever

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods with operations in over 100 countries and sales in 190. Consumers buy 170 billion Unilever packs around the world every year, and our products are used over two billion times a day. We have more than 171,000 employees, and generated annual sales of €46.5 billion in 2011. More than half our sales are generated in emerging markets (56% in 2011). Working to create a better future every day, we help people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others. Our portfolio includes some of the world’s best known brands including Knorr, Hellmann’s, Lipton, Dove, Vaseline, Persil, Cif, Radox, Sure and Lifebuoy.

Our ambition is to double the size of our business, whilst reducing our overall environmental impact (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal). We are also committed to doing what we can to improve health, nutrition and hygiene, with a target to help more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, as well as sourcing all our agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020. All of these goals are itemised in around 50 time-based commitments in our Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.

Unilever has led the Food Producers sector in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes for 14 consecutive years and has regained the leadership of the Food and Beverage supersector. We are included in the FTSE4Good Index Series and attained a top environmental score of 5, leading to inclusion in the FTSE4Good Environmental Leaders Europe 40 Index. In 2011 Unilever led the Climate Counts Company Scorecard and were named #1 in the list of Global Corporate Sustainability Leaders in GlobeScan Inc. and SustainAbility Ltd’s latest annual survey (2012).

For more information about Unilever and its brands, please visit www.unilever.com

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