P&G Expands Water, Packaging Goals

Procter & Gamble says it will ensure 90 percent of its product packaging is recyclable or that programs are in place to create the ability to recycle it by 2020 — one of its packaging and water conservation goals announced yesterday.

The company says between 2002 and 2012 it reduced water use at its manufacturing plants by more than 70 percent per unit of production. P&G won't give a baseline for its measurement — the company says this is part of its operational data so it won't share it.

The company is expanding its commitments to include:

• Reducing water used in its manufacturing facilities by an added 20 percent per unit of production, with a specific focus on conservation efforts at facilities located in water-stressed regions,
• Providing 1 billion people access to water-efficient products.

P&G also says it’s on track to reduce packaging by 20 percent per unit of production by 2020. In addition to the 90 percent recyclable goal above, P&G is committing to:

• Doubling the use of recycled resin in plastic packaging,
• Working across its supply chain to develop the capability by 2020 to replace top petroleum-derived raw materials with renewable materials, as cost and scale permit.

In July, P&G conducted an in-field study to help small farmers improve their palm oil and palm kernel oil production as part of its goals to achieve zero deforestation in the palm oil supply chain made earlier this year.