Unilever's Approach to Dirty Laundry

As a massive multinational that got its start over a hundred years ago, Unilever has obviously adapted to the changing times and prospered. Like many MNCs, this company has been paying increasing attention to emerging issues related to corporate social responsibility. For Unilever, this often takes shape through product research and development (R&D), along with painstakingly studying ways to change consumer behaviour.

On Wednesday night in London, I had the opportunity to meet some of the brains behind the Unilever operation, and hear about the launch of their Cleaner Planet Plan. The Plan corresponds to improving laundry-related manufacturing processes, R&D, and consumer behaviour for brands such as Persil.

After an illustrative presentation that highlighted the changes they've made (including introducing 'Small and Mighty,' which saved 70 million litres of water in its first year, not to mention decreasing CO₂ production), I had a chance to speak to the passionate and committed Keith Rutherford, Unilever's Global Programme Director, Sustainability and Operational Excellence, in addition to Laundry R&D.

From Keith, I learned that Unilever's approach is well thought out and quite scientific - the company has worked diligently to master the ever-complex problem of measuring social and environmental impact. Karen Hamilton, VP of Vitality, mentioned that their company-wide challenge involved measuring impacts across a multitude of products, from deodorants to teas to laundry detergents. Unilever has used lifecycle analysis and brand imprint processes to meet this challenge, and Karen smiled appreciatively at Keith, commenting that Laundry is their shining star.

With around 125 billion washes happening each year with Unilever products, many small changes in consumer behaviour are made scalable, resulting in significant and sustainable improvements. Since 1995, these changes have translated into a 44% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the manufacturing process, a 70% reduction in waste, and a 76% reduction in water waste.

While Unilever recognized that there is always more work to be done in the area of sustainability and that as a business, they of course must consider economic impacts along with environmental and social, the people I met were genuinely excited about what they have accomplished, and I think that they should be. The corporation not only partners with non-profits like Forum for the Future, but they also compare notes with other large companies such as M&S in order to benchmark their sustainability practices and look for ways to improve. Now I know that corporations like Unilever have their fair share of dirty laundry, but when it comes to cultivating the drive, energy and enthusiasm for creating scalable change through its global reach, I think Unilever is onto something here.