Friday 11 April 2014

Zero waste to landfill saves Unilever €17m

The owner of Marmite, Knorr and Flora has announced its factories across Europe have joined those in North America in achieving zero non-hazardous waste to landfill.

That means more than three quarters of Unilever's global factory network no longer sends such waste to landfill – up from 20% three years ago – reducing its disposal costs by more than €17 million (£14m).

The company claims its Sustainable Living Report 2013, which is expected to be published later this month, will confirm it has reduced total waste sent for disposal by 66% per tonne of production since 2008.

[caption id="attachment_72732" align="alignright" width="350"] Copyright: Unilever[/caption]

Unilever said it reached the milestone through its principle of reducing, reusing and recycling and sending solid waste for energy recovery instead of landfill.

Pier Luigi Sigismondi, Unilever Chief Supply Chain Officer said: “We have seen a rapid acceleration in converting the network to zero waste. In 2010, 52 sites were there. We have now reached 200 sites. We are on track to hit our revised target of 100% of sites by 2015, five years ahead of the original 2020 target.”