Unilever exceeds Sustainable Living Plan targets in its first year

The plan, published in November 2010, broke new ground by committing to take responsibility for the company's impacts across the entire supply chain. As part of the update, Unilever announced that by the end of 2012 it will reach its target of 100% certified sustainable palm oil covered by Green Palm Certificates, a full three years ahead of schedule. Whilst this is strong progress, the company recognises that the Green Palm Scheme is only a step along the road towards sustainable palm oil, not the end game. Although it will be even more difficult to achieve, Unilever has now set a new target of purchasing all its palm oil from traceable sources by 2020. This means it will be able to track all of the certified oil it buys back to the plantation on which it was originally grown. The first year progress report outlines the achievements Unilever has made towards its targets, to which Unilever Food Solutions has contributed. Areas the business is making good progress in are: Sustainable sourcing 24% of total agricultural raw materials are now being sourced sustainably, versus 14% in 2010. In the UK, all PG tips bags are now fully Rainforest Alliance Certified and Hellmann's uses only cage-free eggs. Nutrition Over 90% of Unilever's leading spreads now contain less than one-third saturated fat. In the UK, Unilever Food Solutions has been working with the Government and other stakeholders to help meet public health targets – and as a business, has signed up to 12 voluntary pledges as part of the Government's Public Health Responsibility Deal, including reducing salt and calories. The saturated fat content in Flora Original and Light has been reduced further to contain 80% less saturated fat than butter. Eco efficiency 100% of electricity purchased in Europe is now from renewable sources In the UK, the Burton Marmite factory has an anaerobic digester, which uses waste by-product of the manufacturing progress to produce biogas. All of its UK sites are zero (non-hazardous) waste to landfill. Unilever has also constructed a new effluent treatment plant at its Purfleet spreads factory, which recovers 40% of waste water for re-use in cooling towers and irrigation. Tracey Rogers, Managing Director of Unilever Food Solutions, said: "The old view of growth at any cost is unacceptable; today the only responsible way to do business is through sustainable growth. It's for this reason that the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan is not just a bolt-on strategy; it's our blue-print for the future. At Unilever Food Solutions, operating sustainably is key to everything we do. "We've made a fantastic start to our 10-year strategy embedding sustainability into every area of our business, but there's still more to do. The success so far has inspired us to keep working hard to meet our three overarching goals: to halve the environmental footprint of our ingredients; source 100% of our agricultural raw materials sustainably; and help a billion people take action to improve their health and wellbeing." For more information on the Sustainable Living Plan and its full first-year report, visit: www.unilever.com/sustainable-living