Proctor & Gamble Sustainability Journey

Proctor & Gamble is a well known Fortune 500, but not everybody knows that the company is also looking to get LEED Certification for all its new Buildings. Starting in February of 2011, Proctor & Gamble has made the pledge to select and construct all new sites according the design principles set up by the LEED program. “Having all of our new sites LEED-certified will help us make progress toward our long-term sustainability vision, which includes powering out plants with 100 percent renewable energy and zero manufacturing waste-to-landfill,” Global product supply officer Keith Harrison said.”

As reviewed in an article by Shawn Lesser, in December of 2010, Proctor & Gamble opened up its very first zero waste-to-landfill manufacturing plant in Auburn, Maine. This facility joins a number of similar company buildings in Italy, Hungary, and the UK.

Proctor & Gamble has made the pledge of having 100 percent of all energy going to its plants come from renewable sources of energy and that only recycled materials will be utilized for packaging and products. By the year 2020, Proctor & Gamble want to replace 25 percent of all petroleum-based materials with renewable materials. The company also aims to guarantee that no manufacturing or consumer waste will go to landfills.

In November of 2009, Proctor & Gamble started a new 1.1 megawatt solar photovoltaic system at its paper products manufacturing plant located in Oxnard, California. It provided over 1.9 kilowatt hours of solar energy in its first year. In February of 2011, the company installed the first wind turbine in the Netherlands for its company. The turbine will produce 5,500 megawatt hours of electricity annually.

Proctor & Gamble use their 77 Point Plan for smart eco-design which rates a facility’s potential impact in areas like energy, carbon dioxide emissions, water, waste, and environmental quality.

In 2002, Proctor & Gamble improved overall efficiency in thier compressed air system at a paper products mill in Mehoopany, Pennsylvania. This provided energy savings as well as an increase in production levels. It enabled them to phase our a 450 horsepower compressor saving 7.6 million kilowatt hours and over $300,000 annually in energy costs.

Proctor & Gamble’s is also promoting environmental responsibility and conservation education with its Future Friendly program. The program helps consumers to save water, energy, and waste with Proctor & Gamble brands.

Proctor & Gamble is making environmental improvements to their products with their products from formulation issues like using less water to reducing packaging.

The company’s sustainability goals are evident in their 2012 strategies and goals. They include offering consumers sustainable innovations like products with smaller footprints enhance the environmental profile of the company. The goal to do this is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by ten percent in 2012, as well as energy and water consumption and waste disposal. By the end of the current decade, Proctor & Gamble want to reduce by at least 40 percent.