Procter and Gamble Releases its Annual Sustainability Report

Earlier this week, Procter and Gamble released its “Designed to Matter” annual sustainability report.  The report, which can be downloaded here, provides an excellent reference for how sustainability goals can be established and tracked across the extended supply chain. It also notes the value of internal employees in contributing innovative or novel ideas in addressing sustainability goals.

P&G has produced a sustainability report since 2002, and not only tracks its internal goals and initiatives in each area of sustainability, but also reports on the green impact of its individual products it sells to consumers.

Internal supply chain and other initiatives have led to a cumulative 53 percent reduction in waste disposal, along with a 52 percent reduction in water and energy usage.  That is fairly impressive.  If you read through the detail of the report, you can note that P&G has shifted its European transportation strategies to leverage more use of rail, setting a goal to move from 10 to 30 percent rail movements by 2015.  In North America, intermodal transport has increased by 30%, saving 11 million liters of diesel fuel.

Contrastingly, in consumer product offerings, P&G acknowledges that while green products have proven to be attractive, the majority of consumers are unwilling to sacrifice value or quality in order to have a more eco-friendly product.  My translation is that in the current global recessionary environment, price apparently trumps green. 

Our community should shout out a loud applause to P&G in its obvious long-term commitment toward sustainability in supply chain.

Bob Ferrari

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1. Chris Smith says:

   November 10, 2009 at 11:13 am

   Bob – first thanks for the great comments. It’s always nice to see your work received so positively.

   Can I make a slight comment ….. you say P&G first produced a sustainability report in 2002. It was actually 1999 and if we look back even further, our first “environmental report” was produced in 1970 (as part of the P&G UK financial report). Admittedly it was not what you would consider to be a true “environmental report” by today’s standards …… but it was an interesting start to our long public reporting history.

   Thanks again for your kind comments.

   Regards – Chris Smith, P&G Global Sustainability.
2. Bob Ferrari says:

   November 10, 2009 at 5:52 pm

   Hi Chris,

   Thanks for the clarification- much appreciated. The history of P&G ‘s commitment to sustainability is certainly evident, based on this history.

   Bob Ferrari