UNILEVER PVT. LTD
Company background
Unilever is one of the world’s leading consumer goods companies, making and selling around 400 brands in over 190 countries. Close to 13 of the world’s top 50 brands are owned by Unilever, and every day, nearly 2.5 billion people use their products. Unilever believes that sustainable growth is the only acceptable model for their business.
Unilever Sustainable Living Plan
Unilever wants its business to grow, but it recognises that growth at the expense of people or the environment is both unacceptable and commercially unsustainable. They have defined a Sustainable Living Plan which sets out how they will grow their business, while also reducing their environmental footprint and increasing positive social impact.
A crucial pillar of this plan is their commitment to sustainable sourcing of raw material which comes from farms and forests. They have defined paper and board as a priority raw material for their business, and have committed to using only 100% sustainably sourced paper (FSC or PEFC, with full chain of custody) and board on all packaging by 2020. The policy is designed to help transform the industry by working with key suppliers to:
- Halt deforestation
- Promote best practices in sustainable forest and pulp plantation management
- Drive positive economic and social impact on people and communities.
“We, and our consumers, want assurance that we’re not contributing to the deforestation caused by parts of the paper and pulp industry. It’s an important part of our approach to protecting forests and preventing the loss of biodiversity and contribution to climate change caused by deforestation. We have defined paper and board as priority raw materials for our business. We aim to buy paper packaging that comes either from well-managed forests or from recycled material.”
-Unilever Pvt. Ltd.
In 2018, 98% of their paper and board packaging material came from recycled fibre or certified sustainably managed forests. Given that they source from 300 suppliers around the world, their commitment to deforestation-free sourcing has the power to influence a large supply chain comprising other businesses.
This commitment – proudly displayed on the brand packaging through the use of an FSC or PEFC logo – is helping them build their credibility among consumers . In 2015, they researched attitudes towards sustainability among 20,000 adults across five countries, including India, and found that one-third of the people were already buying sustainably. One in five said they wold actively choose brands that made their sustainability credentials clearer on packaging and marketing .