Global consumer products giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) announced that it has already achieved many of the environmental and sustainability goals for 2020 and has plans in place to meet those that it has not already achieved.
In parallel to the announcement, the company is looking to the future with new, stretching environmental and sustainability goals for itself for 2030 under a new branded campaign called ‘Ambition 2030’ as detailed in its 2017 Citizenship Report.
P&G’s “Ambition 2030” goals include the major blocks below, with editing and added commentary as needed to clarify.
- Responsible Packaging: P&G’s 20 leadership brands including Always, Ariel, Dawn, Fairy, Febreze, Head & Shoulders, Pantene, Pampers, and Tide will use packaging that is 100% recyclable or reusable.
- Electricity: Purchase enough renewable electricity to power 100% of their plants.
- GHG Reduction: P&G manufacturing sites will cut greenhouse gas emissions in half. Setting a GHG reduction target is a solid step towards addressing the more comprehensive picture of a facility’s carbon footprint.
- Water: Source at least 5 billion liters of water from circular sources. Its 2020 goal was to reduce freshwater use by 20% and against that, it has already achieved a 27% reduction in water usage per unit of production. These concepts are fleshed out in the WBCSD’s Report on Circular Water Management which builds on the concept of 5Rs.
- Society: Create partnerships that stem the flow of plastic into the world’s ocean, protect and enhance forests, expand recycling solutions for absorbent hygiene products, and protect water in priority basins around the world.
Thankfully, the technology exists to achieve most of this without too much difficult – wind, solar, water efficiency and the like.