Climate Action 2009-2010

Kimberly-Clark Professional
PURSUING ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY ON A GLOBAL SCALE
SPECIAL FEATURE 166
REDUCE TODAY, RESPECT TOMORROW
Takes a bigger-picture approach to
Environmental Responsibility
Kimberly-Clark Professional recently announced that
it is accelerating its efforts to meet increasingly urgent
environmental challenges with a new approach branded
Reduce Today, Respect Tomorrow.
One of four global business sectors within Kimberly-
Clark Corporation, Kimberly-Clark Professional is one of
the largest manufacturers of washroom products in the
world, serving commercial and institutional facilities such
as office buildings, hotels, schools, healthcare facilities,
manufacturing plants, and other public buildings.
Kimberly-Clark Professional is aligned with its parent
company’s commitment to sustainability at all levels of its
business. And while the sustainability agenda is not new
to the company (Kimberly-Clark has topped the Personal
Products category of the Dow Jones Sustainability World
Index for the past five years in a row), Kimberly-Clark
Professional’s approach reaffirms the organisation’s
commitment to environmental stewardship as a daily part
of its business practices. “Our ongoing efforts to achieve
outstanding environmental performance are not just our
responsibility as corporate citizens, they are vital to our
success as a business,” said Jan Spencer, President,
Global Kimberly-Clark Professional. “These efforts are also
guided by global, company-wide objectives for improving
operational performance in energy, water, waste, and
environmental management systems.”
Kimberly-Clark Professional’s philosophy is driven by
a deep understanding that to tackle environmental
problems, it must look at the entire life cycle of its products
– from raw materials sourcing to manufacture through
customer use all the way to end of life disposal. And by
working to apply the principles of source reduction, or
waste prevention, at each of these stages in the product’s
life, their environmental impact can be reduced.
Products created with source reduction in mind are designed
in such a way that users actually consume less, either
through improved performance, more reliable dispensing
methods, or both. Reduced consumption leads to less
waste and other environmental benefits throughout the life
cycle of the product. One way this is currently achieved is
through use of a patented tissue manufacturing technology
that can reduce the total wood fibre needed to make tissue
by up to 17 per cent while improving product performance.
This can lead to a reduction in total consumption of
certain KLEENEX and SCOTT towels by up to 28 per cent.
Redesigning packaging to fit more product into each case
and more cases into each truck also prevents waste and
reduces transport emissions.
Of course, Kimberly-Clark understands that the
environmental impact of its products begins well before they
are used by a customer. So, another area where they have
had long-standing environmental commitments has been in
product manufacturing. The company’s global Vision 2010
environmental objectives program commits it to achieve
reductions in water use, waste generation and energy use.
The company has emphasised energy use reduction since
before the first Vision program, which was launched in the
mid-1990s. Given today’s global concerns related to increasing
global CO 2
emissions and the fact that energy costs continue
to rise, Kimberly-Clark’s longstanding focus on energy
reduction has proven both economically and environmentally
beneficial. And today, they are as focused as ever.
The Vision program allows the company to progress by
defining energy use benchmarks specific to manufacturing
technologies and customised by facility. This standardised
approach identifies the best facility performers and
challenges other manufacturing sites to achieve at least
the same level of performance. It also requires a robust
data management system to collect detailed energy
information from plants all over the world so that progress
can be measured and gaps managed appropriately. With
energy reduction as the driver, Kimberly-Clark’s global
carbon dioxide emissions have also been reduced: since
2005, energy use has been reduced by six per cent and
CO 2
emissions per unit of production by seven per cent.
These are just a few examples of how Kimberly-Clark is
putting the Reduce Today, Respect Tomorrow principles to
work. “We know that sustainability is a journey we’re on, not
a destination we’ve reached. We’ve spoken to customers,
environmentalists and consumers, and we know they are
looking to us, as the market leader, to front lasting change.
The Reduce Today, Respect Tomorrow campaign is part
of our effort to do just that”, said Lisa Morden, Global
Sustainability Leader for Kimberly-Clark Professional.
For more information about Kimberly-Clark Professional,
its products and its sustainability program, visit
www.kcpReduceToday.com.
Organisation
Kimberly-Clark Professional is an indispensable
business partner, delivering leading-edge health,
hygiene and productivity solutions that provide tangible
value every day, everywhere. Known for innovative,
quality solutions for away-from-home washrooms,
“clean” and “industrial” manufacturing environments,
and DIY settings, the global brands of Kimberly-Clark
Professional include Kleenex, Scott, Kimcare, WypAll,
KleenGuard, and Kimtech. With the acquisition of
Jackson Safety, Kimberly-Clark Professional offers an
even broader range of PPE and other safety offerings,
including market-leading welding and work zone
safety products. Kimberly-Clark Professional, located
in Roswell, Ga., is one of Kimberly-Clark Corporation’s
four business segments and can be visited on the web
at www.kcprofessional.com.
Enquiries
For more information about Kimberly-Clark
Professional, its products and its sustainability
programme, visit www.kcpReduceToday.com
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