SC Johnson, the maker of household products ranging from Windex to Ziploc bags, has met -- if not topped -- five-year environmental goals that were to be accomplished by 2011, the company said in a new accounting of its sustainability efforts.
Key achievements included absolute reductions in greenhouse gas emissions worldwide and in the U.S that were more than double the amount expected, according to the latest annual progress report, called "360º of Greener Choices."
Here's a look at some of the numbers from the report:
- Global GHG: Factories worldwide reduced GHG emissions by 26.2 percent by the close of 2010, compared to a baseline set in 2000. The goal was an absolute reduction of 12 percent by 2011.
- U.S. GHG: In the U.S., the company reduced GHG emissions by 27.4 percent by the end of 2010, compared to a 2005 baseline. The goal was an 8 percent absolute reduction by 2011.
- Renewable energy: The company hit its target in this category by sourcing 40.2 percent of its electricity worldwide to renewable energy via purchased green power and on-site generated energy.
- Waste and emissions: Globally, the company reduced its combined air emissions, water effluents and solid waste by 55 percent as a ratio to production, compared to a 2000 baseline. The goal was a 50 percent reduction.
The company also sought to source more of the ingredients of its products to materials and other substances that are deemed better or best for the environment, compared to those that are considered acceptable or aren't rated at all. Here is a chart showing the company's progress and the baseline:
SC Johnson has been focusing more strongly on the ingredients of its products and their effects on human health and the environment since 2009. That's when the firm launched its What's Inside SC Johnson website and began to publicly list the ingredients it uses. The effort has expanded to all of its brands and the products within them.
In addition to detailing its progress, the firm also set new five-year environmental goals. They include:
- Reducing GHG emissions from SC Johnson operations worldwide by another 6 percent.-- Decreasing the company's upstream footprint by 8 percent and decreasing the downstream footprint by 2 percent.
- Increasing the company's use of renewable energy to 44 percent of total electricity use worldwide.
- Increasing post-consumer-recycled content across product packaging to 30 percent.
- Decreasing packaging across product lines by 5 percent.
- Offsetting 30 percent of virgin material used Ideally this would result from advances in packaging and partnerships that facilitate the offsets.
- Increasing the percentage of "better" or "best" in ingredients in products to 58 percent by 2016.
The full report is available at www.scjohnson.com.
Images courtesy of SC Johnson and its annual report.
