Overview
Unilever is a multinational corporation selling consumer goods including foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. Unilever is a dual-listed company consisting of Unilever NV in Rotterdam and Unilever PLC in London.
Unilever owns more than 400 brands including 11 "billion-dollar brands", which each achieve annual sales in excess of €1 billion.
Revenue (£m and currency as quoted)
39,823 (2009)
Number of employees
163,000
Origin of ownership
UK/Netherlands
Geographical presence
Operates in 100 countries
Key contact
Santiago Gowland
Environmental Risks & Impact
Measured by voliume, around half of Unilever's raw materials are agricultural or forestry products. As a result, the company's principle environmental concerns are changing weather patterns, water-scarcity and unsustainable farming practices.
Unilever measures its product categories against four green indicators covering water, waste, sustainable sourcing and greenhouse gas emissions.
Most CO2 emissions associated with Unilever brands occur during consumer use as products require energy to heat water for cooking and washing.
Targets & Performance
Emissions & Energy
The company's aim is to reduce the carbon intensity of manufacturing operations by 25% by 2012 (measured as tonnes CO2 per tonne of production against a 2004 baseline).
In 2008, the company reduced CO2 emissions by 1.6% per tonne of production compared to 2007.
Unilever has reduced the carbon intensity of its energy use by 39% between 1995 and 2008. This represents a 43% reduction in absolute terms.
The company is investing in more efficient power and steam generation technology and the development of less energy intensive manufacturing processes. For example:
- In Europe, Unilever has at least three CHP plants which use waste steam and hot water to generate electricity.
- The Cu Chi factory in Vietnam uses solar panels to preheat water for steam generation.
- 2m point-of-sale ice cream freezer cabinets are being replaced with energy-efficient HC alternatives.
The company plans to reduce indirect impacts by working with customers and suppliers to address wider impacts. For example, Ben & Jerry's has a Lick Global Warming campaign and an ice cream flavour called Fossil Fuel.
Around 4m tonnes of CO2 are produced each year because of Unilever's transport and product distribution requirements.
Water
Unilever relies on water for:
- Sourcing: the cultivation of agricultural raw materials
- Manufacturing operations: cleaning, cooling, as an ingredient
- Consumers: use of home care and personal products
Unilever aims to:
- Reduce water in manufacturing
- Work with suppliers on issues such as crop irrigation
- Innovation on product design
Since 1995, Unilever has reduced the amount of water used per tonne of production by 63% by minimising water use and maximising water recycling.
During 2008, there was a 3% reduction in water intensity compared to 2007 – from 3.05 m3 to 2.96 m3 per tonne of production.
The water intensity of food production has dropped from 5.27 m3 in 2003 to 4.23 m3 in 2007 per tonne of production.
Products aimed at reduced consumer water consumption include the One Rinse Comfort fabric conditioner. In Vietnam, One Rinse Comfort reduces the water needed by two-thirds and sales rose by nearly 30% in 2008.
Waste
Waste intensity has reduced by 68% per tonnes of production between 1995 and 2008, despite a 4.3% increase in the last year (7.56 kg/tonnes in 2007 to 7.89 kg/tonne).
The company says this increase was due to:
- Legislative changes
- Under-capacity in effluent treatment
- Planned disposal of accumulated and inherited hazardous waste
Changing packaging design is one of the ways in which the company wants to use to reduce waste impacts.
The PVC policy commits to replacing PVC in all packaging by the end of 2010, where there are viable alternatives.
Resources
Agricultural and forestry crops make up around half by volume of raw materials used by Unilever.
Unilever buys approximately 12% of the world's black tea, 6% of the world's tomatoes and 3% of its palm oil.
Unilever established guidelines for good agricultural practice based on 11 indicators including water, energy, pesticide use and animal welfare. Growers and third-party suppliers are encouraged to comply.
Most of the world's oil palm is grown in South-East Asia where the clearance and burning of forests contributes to global warming.
Following a public challenge by Greenpeace, Unilever has agreed to draw all their palm oil from certified sustainable sources by 2015.
Unilever have also agreed to support a moratorium on further deforestation in South-East Asia.
At the end of 2009 around 80% of Lipton Yellow Label and PG tips tea sold in Western Europe came from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.
Unilever also uses paper and board, plastic, glass, aluminium, steel and mixed material laminates (for sachets and pouches) in its manufacturing processes.
