Procter & Gamble achieves zero waste at 45 sites

The company, which is responsible for manufacturing household brands such as Gillette, Braun, Duracell and Pampers operates 15 sites in the UK & Ireland, including commercial offices in Surrey and Harrogate.

Yesterday (April 2) it made the announcement that a third of its sites were no longer sending waste to landfill, as a result of reducing waste, improving recycling and using energy from waste technology.

And, Procter & Gamble says it is now close to sending zero waste to landfill at all of its manufacturing sites across the globe, with less than 1% of its waste currently going to landfill worldwide. The company has reduced the amount of waste it produces by 68% since 2008.

In the UK, the company revealed that its Newcastle offices, Seaton Delaval manufacturing facility, Newcastle innovation centre, Bournenmouth distribution centre and Reading manufacturing facility all are now sending zero waste to landfill.

In total P&Gs 15 sites in the UK are achieving a 94% recycling rate.

Composting

Initiatives to reduce waste include sending organic waste from the production of Gillette shaving foam at the Reading plant for composting before being used to produce turf for commercial use.

Meanwhile, waste from shampoo production is being reused in carpet shampoo and waste from laundry powder research and development is reused in car washes and industrial facilities cleaning.

Bob McDonald, president, chief executive and chairman of the board of Proctor & Gamble, said: We have a vision for the future, where plants are powered by renewable energy, products are made from recycled and renewable materials and resources are conserved, with no manufacturing or consumer waste going to landfill.

Changing the way we see waste as a company has brought us one step closer to this goal at 45 sites worldwide, where all of our waste is recycled, repurposed or converted into energy.

Packaging

In its 2011/12 sustainability report, published in November 2012 the company said it had exceeded its target to reduce the environmental impact of its products by reducing packaging of products including Pampers nappies, and laundry brands tide, ERA and Dreft.

The report also revealed that the overall percentage of P&Gs waste that is recycled or reused has increased from 69% in 2010-11 to 79% in 2011-12.

Also, in 2011-12 more than 99.2% of all materials coming into the firms plants were reused, recycled, or converted into energy. P&G aims for this figure to reach 99.5% by 2020.