Greenwash or Raw Milk for Big Business? Looking at Colgate-Palmolive
For some reason, global consumer products company Colgate-Palmolive was not among the 154 companies that signed the 2015 American Business Act on Climate Pledge. Competitors Proctor & Gamble and Unilever were. (I’ve written about others which committed–several on Goldman Sachs and Starbucks.)
Among the Climate Pledge goals are:
- Reducing emissions by as much as 50%
- Reducing water usage by as much as 80%
- Achieving zero waste-to-landfill
- Purchasing 100% renewable energy, and
- Pursuing zero net deforestation in supply chains
However, the U.S. Greenbuilding Council (USGBC) featured Colgate in its May/Jun ’16 magazine issue as a company striving “to become a leader in sustainable building practices worldwide.”
Just a few months earlier, Colgate was recognized by the USGBC for its sustainability leadership in the evolution of green manufacturing. Then-President Rick Fedrizzi said: “…at the company’s heart is a culture of care for the planet, and the awareness-building and education it does around water conservation says a great deal about its end-to-end commitment to leadership.”
I remember sitting among some 1,200 sustainability professionals at Greenbuild International in October ’15 as this video began to roll ahead of the Keynote speaker–just the man in the PJ’s version of this video rolling. No words. After a few long moments, someone who got it started laughing. Then those seated nearby. Then laughter rolling like waves over the grand hall.
Eleven of Colgate-Palmolive’s facilities are LEED certified at some level with another 8 in the pipeline. Its new toothbrush manufacturing facility in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, opened in 2009, is LEED® Silver Certified, and, thankfully for the employees there, has “quality/daylight views” in 90% of occupied spaces.
Global strategies include “Reducing Our Impact on Climate and the Environment” through 2020 goals:
- Responsibly source forest commodities to reach zero net deforestation
- Promote use of renewable energy and reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing by 25% compared to 2002
- Reduce manufacturing energy use intensity (EUI) by one third compared to 2002
- Halve manufacturing waste sent to landfill per ton of product compared to 2010, working toward our goal of “Zero Waste”
- Partner with key suppliers, customers and consumers to reduce energy, greenhouse gas emissions and waste
These goals may seem somewhat less ambitious than those set under the Climate Pledge, but are similar, and laudable.
Not called out in the USGBC award press release are several others I think important:
- Reduce manufacturing water intensity to half of its 2002 use level, and, related,
- Replenish water withdrawn in highly stressed regions
- Increase supplier participation in the company’s water stewardship program
A vital aspect of Colgate’s sustainable business practices includes its climate resilience work as a subset of its Enterprise Risk Management Program.
The impacts of episodic climatic events such as storms, floods, droughts and extreme temperature to its global facilities and supply chain ops are managed programmatically. From its 2014 Sustainability Planet Report:
“Property loss control third-party assessments are conducted for all natural disaster hazards on a rotational basis, including at least annually for all strategic sites. Category contingency product sourcing plans have been developed and are updated routinely. Colgate also conducts contingency planning for anticipated climatic events to ensure continuity of operations.
“In 2015, contingency planning was completed for materials sourced from the Gulf of Mexico with the potential to be impacted during hurricane season and agriculturally sourced materials from around the world impacted by El Niño.”
Other facts of interest; these from its 2015 Sustainability Report:
- Its EUI score declined by 21.7% from 2005-2015 (from slightly over 155 MWh/ton of product manufactured to about 120).
- Its CO2 Intensity score from 2005-2015 was reduced by about 26.2% (from 0.46 kgCO2/ton of product manufactured to about 0.365).
- Its Water Use Intensity score from 2005-2015 declined 31.1% (from 1.507 cubic meters/ton of product manufactured to 1.008).
- Purchased enough Green-e certified wind power RECs (renewable energy certificates) to make it into the National Top 100 list of the largest green power users.
- Over 90% of its pulp and paper is certified or is in the process of being certified as being sourced from responsibly managed forests.
Definitely raw milk! Committed to leading its own divisions and suppliers in sustainability objectives and ops while showcasing the realm of best management practices for its customers–you and me.
Here’s a short video about the company’s sustainability endeavors offered by the USGBC-
Incidentally, Colgate-Palmolive was named to the list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2013.