When a business like Unilever stops sending waste to landfill from its global factory network, how does it deal with all the stuff that used to be thrown away?
It is a question that faces every large business that is serious about reducing its environmental impact and, while Unilever doesn’t claim to have all the answers, it has made this very clear: you can’t do it alone.
By the end of 2014, Unilever sent no non-hazardous waste to landfill from any of its network of 242 factories and manufacturing sites across 67 countries. This zero waste initiative helped achieve €220m (£159m) of cost savings, and created more than 1,000 jobs. It also opened up opportunities for partnerships, as Unilever looked for new ways to reuse, recycle or recover the materials that were still left over from manufacturing even after substantial efforts to reduce waste at source.
A new interactive Global Collaboration Map, created in a partnership between Unilever and 2degrees, shows Unilever’s global network of factories - all now sending zero waste to landfill.
Behind the achievement of zero waste at each site is a story of new processes and partnerships. Unilever has worked with groups ranging from Indian farmers and Argentinian school children to supermarkets, cement manufacturers and consumer goods businesses.
In the Philippines, sachet waste has been turned into concrete blocks for construction or household items, while in India, leftover material from food production is turned into compost for vegetable growing.
In Argentina, Unilever recycles paper, cardboard and deodorant cans so that local children can use them for crafts. Elsewhere, waste is being turned into animal feed, organic fertiliser, and green energy.
Partnerships with other businesses are just as critical as those with communities. In Santiago, Chile, Unilever joined forces with businesses including Walmart, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo on the Collective Recycling Project, which aims to recycle approximately 1,200 tonnes of waste each year through a network of recycling centres, and get useful energy recovery data to feed back into design and innovation.
Unilever’s partnership with global building materials company Holcim has created an outlet for residual waste which the business cannot find other ways to recycle, and gives Holcim a source of energy that offers an alternative to fossil fuel.
Achieving zero waste from factories is far from the end of Unilever’s waste management story, the business says. The company is still looking for new partnerships that can help it to improve what it does - and to share what it has learned.
Unilever hosted an event in London in June at which 150 attendees, including representatives from other major businesses such as Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., PWC, Sainsbury’s, Mars and GSK, discussed zero waste and waste management best practices.
Content on this page is paid for and provided by Unilever, sponsor of the sustainable living hub
