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Knorr Sustainability Actions

Reducing waste from manufacturing

Our factories have identified innovative ways to reuse various non-hazardous waste streams and maintain the status of 'zero non-hazardous waste to landfill' in factories and offices across HUL. This was done by maximising reuse and recycling of all non-hazardous waste in environmentally friendly ways. As compared to 2008, the total waste generated from our factories in 2019 has reduced by 63%. All our factories are also equipped with pre-processing facilities such as waste segregation and waste reduction at source, thus improving recyclability.

Reusable, recyclable or compostable plastic packaging

Our Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) addresses the global issue of plastic waste and is committed to ensuring that 100% of our plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025. In order to support our goal, we have committed to halving our use of plastic, by reducing the absolute use of plastic packaging by more than 100,000 tonnes and accelerating our use of recycled plastic. In 2019, we disposed of more than 39,000 tonnes of plastic waste in environment-friendly ways in India.

Reducing packaging

By 2030, we aim to halve the greenhouse gas impact of our products, by eliminating over 100,000 tonnes of plastic from our packaging. We have resized sachets across our hair and home care portfolio and reduced thickness of aluminium cans for deodorants, in order to save plastic. A key part of our sustainability programme, this requires us to speed up reusable, refillable, and no plastic product innovations. Besides, packaging innovation techniques such as our polymer and material use optimisation have also helped us save over 3,800 tonnes of polymer, 102 tonnes of aluminium and 2,700 tonnes of paper across categories, in 2019.  

Recycling packaging

In order to build a circular economy, plastic packaging needs to be recycled in environment- friendly ways. We are re-designing our products and revising our business model, not only with the aim of using less plastic, but also to inculcate the principals of reusing, recycling, and composting the minimal plastic currently used. To increase recycling and recovery rates in our packaging, we are using r-PET (80% recycled PET) in our blister packs for personal care brands like Pepsodent toothbrush and Glow & Lovely. We are also using post-consumer recycled polymer in our bottles. Tresemme, Sunsilk black, and Surf excel Liquid bottles are with 25% r-HDPE, while Vim bottles are 50% r-PET. Experimenting with new formats that either have no packaging at all or will use substitute materials for packaging, recyclability of our packaging is crucial to our future success. We have converted all our shampoo sachet and soap bar wrappers into the recyclable structure. Thus, exiting 2019 with 1.5KT of PCR used in our packaging.

Reducing office waste

In 2019, we made significant changes across all our offices and achieved the status of ‘Zero waste to Landfill’ for non-hazardous waste. We use ceramic cups instead of paper cups, hand dryers in the washroom instead of tissue paper, and recycled A4 sheets for printing. We have also replaced our paper records and files with digital records. Not only have we stopped using single waste plastics in our offices, but also, any composting food waste is utilised as manure for maintaining our gardens and landscapes.

Sustainable sourcing

We are conscious that the decisions we make can have a significant impact on natural resources and climate change, based on who we source our raw materials from and how we work with them. We therefore primarily focus on our main agricultural raw materials and continue to display steady progress in sustainable sourcing.

Water use

Climate change is putting an immense strain on water, food, and other natural resources. Therefore, we aim to reduce our carbon footprints by reducing the water abstracted via manufacturing sites. Our manufacturing operations have witnessed a 58% reduction in water usage (cubic meter per ton of production) as compared to the 2008 baseline. Concentrating on reducing freshwater abstraction, implementing captive rainwater harvesting, and maximising the use of RO plants, has significantly contributed to the reduction of water in our manufacturing processes. We use the Unilever Sustainable Agriculture Code (USAC) to guide our farmers on ways to reduce water usage in agriculture. In tomatoes and chicory, we have also begun trials to use 'mulching', a technique that significantly helps reduce water usage.

Greenhouse gases

In 2019, we reduced our output of carbon dioxide emissions per ton by 85%. This was achieved through IREC[1] purchase for Grid electricity and solar capacity enhancement in our Nashik and Chiplun factories. We also lowered our overall energy footprint across factories by installing various energy-saving capital projects that include installing energy-efficient pumps, VVVFDs (variable voltage, variable frequency drives) and condensate recoveries in plants. We also use air compressor heat recovery systems and steam expanders. In 2019, our sites witnessed a 71% increase in our share of renewable energy. Driven to make an environment-friendly choice, we continue to use biofuel in Amli, thermic fluid heater in Bhuj, and biomass briquettes and solar power at our factories. Currently 100% of our electricity is derived from renewable sources, and only three HUL sites use coal – Bhuj, Garden Reach Factory near Kolkata, and Orai. These three sites are in the process of shifting to a biomass boiler for energy by the end of 2020. In 2019, the CO2 emissions from our logistics network reduced by over 14%. Our “Load More Travel Less” strategy clubbed with increased efficiency of processes, reduction in the count of trucks by using bigger truck types, and reduction in distance travelled helped us reduce CO2 emissions. We have continued our drive to roll out environment-friendly freezer cabinets that use hydrocarbon (HC) refrigerants instead of Hydrofluorocarbons refrigerants. There are currently 112,826 freezers with HC technology in our fleet in India. A net-zero carbon economy is good for the planet as well as for business. Across our offices, a significant share of electricity is sourced from clean energies such as wind and solar. We continue to further reduce energy usage by installing energy AC systems and air handling devices, using motion sensor lighting and installing LED lights in our offices. Such programs have contributed to reduce the expense of power and to construct our offices in an environment-friendly manner. These initiatives made it possible for us to achieve 100% renewable electricity across all our offices in India in 2019.

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