Waste remains the issue – Newsweek

Procter and Gamble – the largest customer for nonwovens worldwide – received a special mention in the 2012 Newsweek Green Rankings as a consumer goods company engaging in innovative sustainable-packaging initiatives drawing on reused, recycled and biodegradable materials.

The consumer goods industry is waste-intensive, the Newsweek survey notes, particularly as a result of product packaging and the disposable nature of some goods, including hygienic disposables. Yet the majority of companies across the industry do not disclose even basic waste-reduction initiatives, such as end-of-life product recycling programmes.

The industry continues also to be impacted by changing regulations on toxic substances and hazardous chemicals, it was noted. Companies like L’Oreal have been proactive – creating ‘green chemistry’ programmes to mitigate harmful chemical use from the product-design stage. As a whole, however, the industry has been slow to effectively reduce its hazardous waste from production.

Water use, greenhouse-gas emissions and general waste generation and disposal together account for more than 80% of the total environmental footprint for consumer goods.

Yet P&G did not do as well as perhaps might be expected in the list, coming in 265th in the assessment of the environmental performance of the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the world – down 52 places from its position in 2011.

Johnson & Johnson also slipped 62 places to 88th, while Kimberly-Clark, by contrast, climbed 82 places to 119th place.

The Green Rankings represent the first effort by a major media organisation to rank companies based on their actual environmental footprint, management of that footprint and sustainability communications. Newsweek claims they provide a reliable, cross-industry framework for comparing the environmental commitment and performance of major companies.

Whereas most sustainability rankings are anecdotal in nature or limited in scope, Newsweek’s are the result of a rigorous, peer-reviewed research process, including both quantitative and qualitative data from some of the world’s leading environmental research organisations. Given the their visibility, they present a strong incentive for companies to work on improving their environmental impact and multi-stakeholder dialogue.

They are produced in collaboration with two leading environmental research organizations, Trucost and Sustainalytics.