2008 Sustainability Overview: Designed to Innovate... Sustainably
Delivering Innovation
We deliver innovation through a combination of visible product-based improvements and less visible operations-based advancements.
We are inspired by consumers to deliver product upgrades that improve their lives, maintain the value they want, and help them to reduce their environmental impact.
Charmin MegaRoll and Bounty Select-a-Size are just two examples of many innovations these brands have made that make a difference in these areas. But, other innovations take place beyond a consumer’s view, such as improvements in our manufacturing processes, facilities, and logistics.
- With Bounty Select-a-Size, the consumers use only what they need.
- 1 Charmin MegaRoll = 4 Regular Rolls
1,000,000 consumers switching from a regular roll to Charmin MegaRoll can save:
- 140 Million Cores Per Year
- 321,000 Liters of Fuel Per Year
- 226,000 Kg of Plastics Per Year
Visible improvements
Sustainable solutions to consumer needs
Many innovations that are visible to consumers are also inspired by them. Bounty consumers sought a paper towel for small tasks that still required superior wet strength. Our solution, Bounty Select-a-Size, features sheets that are 45% smaller than traditional Bounty—but still absorb spills faster and are stronger when wet than other regular-sized two-ply towels on the market. So thanks to Bounty Select-a-Size, consumers have an option for producing less waste.
When Charmin bath tissue consumers expressed a desire to change the roll less often, we created Charmin MegaRoll, which features four times as many sheets per roll than a regular roll of Charmin. Along with meeting consumer needs, the product requires the use and disposal of fewer cardboard cores. In addition, the space-efficient product allows more tissue to fit on a truck, saving on fuel consumption and CO2 emissions associated with transportation.
In Family Care over the past five years,
our North American plants have:
- 28% Reduced Energy
- 35% Lowered CO2 Emissions
- 67% Reduced Waste
- 15% Reduced Water Consumption
Invisible advances
Energy and water efficiencies for a smaller footprint
Looking forward, we are continuing our conservation efforts within existing facilities. There are thousands of projects under way to identify innovative ways to conserve energy and water, and reduce emissions.
Much of the energy used in papermaking is needed to dry the paper. Heat in the form of steam and combustion gases can be lost during this drying process. At our Mehoopany, Pennsylvania facility, a proprietary process was developed that enables the plant to recover this heat and save 422,000 GJ of energy and 13,600 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year. In comparison, the energy that will be saved by this project is greater than the site energy consumption at 80% of our facilities around the world.
