Tide detergent and paper towel maker Bounty told CNN it plans to achieve net greenhouse gas emissions through its operations and supply chain by 2040.
The inclusion of P&G’s supply chain and logistics is critical because these emissions are approximately ten times higher than the company’s own operations. Without that, the company wouldn’t really make any dock in its carbon footprint.
“Climate change is not a thing in the future. It is here now,” Jack Mcaneny, P & G’s global vice president of global sustainability, told CNN in an interview.
Many technologies “do not currently exist”
Therefore, P&G has been working to reduce scope 1 (direct emissions from its factories and offices) and scope 2 (emissions caused by the purchase of energy for P&G facilities). The company says it currently gets 97% of its power from renewable electricity and the goal is to reach 100% by 2030.
However, all of this is the easiest part, relatively speaking.
The big challenge for P&G and many other companies will be to deal with scope 3 emissions, which include from where they get the ingredients to how the products are transported to the stores.
“Many of the tools and technologies to help reduce Scope 3 emissions do not currently exist in the marketplace,” Virginie Helias, director of sustainability at P&G, said in an email. “But while we may not yet have all the solutions, we are committed to tackling this challenge head-on.”
P&G announced a couple of interim targets for 2030 towards zero net: to reduce emissions between operations by 50% and across the entire supply chain by 40%.
Forests are crucial in the fight against climate change
To achieve its goals, Helias promised that P&G will adopt a “science-based approach” that will try to develop and scale low-carbon technologies and develop innovative ingredients and materials.
For example, Tide works with a Silicon Valley startup called Twelve that converts captured CO2 emissions into ingredients using only water and renewable energy. P&G hopes the technology can be woven into the manufacture of its various products. P&G also said it is working with partners to develop materials that can be derived from renewable, bio-based or recycled carbon.
Another challenge for P&G is to try to minimize the negative impact on forests caused by the company’s use of palm oil and wood pulp, two commodities that can lead to deforestation.
P&G stressed that it is committed to “not producing any deforestation in our supply chain” and stated that all the wood pulp used in its toilet paper products, fabrics, towels and absorbents for the hygiene is 100% certified in a sustainable way by forest management standards.
“These standards help ensure that for every tree harvested, at least one reproduces again,” Helias said.
The tide pushes the wash with cold water
While P&G is committed to re-growing trees and reducing emissions from its own operations and supply chain, these areas are only part of the company’s environmental impact. P&G says the vast majority of its carbon footprint (approximately 80%) comes from the use its countless products make by consumers.
To address the challenge of consumer use, P&G says it is trying to educate consumers on how to be more sustainable, even through a new educational campaign.
P&G is also partnering with external groups. The company announced it will join the UN race to zero and business ambition for 1.5 ° C campaigns, as well as the World Economic Forum’s Climate Leaders Alliance.
“The climate crisis is urgent, difficult and much bigger than any other business or individual,” Helias said.