Big corporations and some of the world’s most popular brands have taken green initiatives for their corporate social responsibility. This is to not only lessen their carbon footprints and to mitigate climate change, but also to gather further support from the public for their products. These industries have worked hard to help in the fight against global warming and climate change, and they are now looking for the recognition they deserve.
L’Oreal had reduced their energy consumption by at least 3.6 percent and water use by 6.9 percent last year, leading to a decrease in greenhouse gas production of 6.6 percent. The cosmetics company incorporated recycling in their system, avoiding the sending of waste to landfills and recycling 95 percent of their generated waste or reusing it to generate energy.
Cleaning products company Unilever, on the other hand, vows to cut down carbon dioxide emissions from its manufacturing operations by 25 percent by 2012. The company is nearing its 2012 commitment as it reduces carbon dioxide emissions from energy per metric ton of production by 39 percent, compared to their emissions in 1995.
Other companies, meanwhile have gone under the consumer discretionary category, including Amazon.com Inc. and Eastman Kodak Company. Both firms have been lauded for greening their manufacturing and packaging processes.
Online shopping firm Amazon had launched the “frustration-free packaging” program last year, which delivers products from brands like Fisher-Price, Mattel and Microsoft that do not contain plastic clamshell cases or plastic-coated wire ties. Aside from this, Amazon packs corrugated containers that are made of 43 percent recovered fiber. Larger items for kitchen appliances and the like are packed in materials that are 100 percent recyclable and made of 50 percent recycled content.
Kodak’s photo facilities have also helped companies green through use of non-hazardous recyclable plastics. Additionally, Kodak uses thermal photo papers that have been sourced sustainably from forests. The photo company has stopped use of molded pulp insert and bubble wrap. Their dry laboratories are also using 70 to 90 percent less energy than conventional silver halide photo minilabs.
The materials production industry has also gone sustainable.
Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. had introduced a program for planting 10 million trees by 2020. Chemical company BASF S.E. has also joined the bandwagon, as it is the first company in its industry to launch the carbon balance in 2008. The carbon balance diverges the carbon dioxide emission savings of the firm’s products and procedures with their emissions from raw material generation and product disposal. Results have shown that their products can save three times more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire amount caused by the production and disposal of all BASF products.
Healthcare companies Glaxosmithkline P.L.C. and Novo Nordisk A/S have also reduced their carbon emission targets.
Glaxosmith is currently doubling their efficiency at transforming raw materials to finished products by end of 2010, based on a 2005 baseline. The firm also aims to lessen energy and climate change impact per unit of sales by 45 percent on 2006 levels by 2015.
Novo Nordisk hopes to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from their global production by 10 percent on 2004 levels by 2014 through use of renewable energy and implementing energy efficiency measures. The company has also introduced a TakeAction initiative, a program for tree-planting and car pools for employees.
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