Sustainable Marketing

HUL incorporates sustainable marketing in all its brands, be it Tresemme or Knorr.

Some of the highlights of 2013-14 in promoting sustainability are: 

1. 58 million people reached through Lifebuoy Handwashing Programme since 2010.
2. 57.5 million people gained access to safe drinking water from Pureit globally, by end of 2013.
3. CO emissions per tonne of production in India reduced by 27%, water usage by 37% and waste by 84% compared to 2008.
4. In 2013, total 35 sites out of 38 sites became zero non-hazardous waste to landfills; an addition of five more sites compared to previous year.
5. Out of 38 HUL factories, 33 became zero discharge in 2013.
6. A total of 86 tea estates in Assam, Darjeeling and Tamil Nadu were certified 'Sustainable Estates' by the Rainforest Alliance™.
7. 80% of tomatoes used in Kissan Ketchup were from sustainable sources.
8. Shakti network strengthened taking the total number of Shakti Entrepreneurs(Shakti Ammas) to over 65,000 complemented by over 50,000 Shaktimaans.
   [Source: HUL sustainability report 2013-14]

REDUCE PACKAGING

In 2013, there was a significant reduction in HUL's packaging materials. A number of projects with a focus on design and material optimisation implemented across categories, resulted in reduction of around 1,700 tonnes of plastic and over 2,500 tonnes of paper.

TACKLE SACHET WASTE

HUL has evaluated different Pyrolysis technologies to recycle sachet waste. Pyrolysis offers a closed loop system which involves catalytic de-polymerisation of plastics into fuel. The fuel can be used in factories as furnace oil or can be used for similar industrial applications. 

REDUCE WASTE FROM OUR MANUFACTURING

The company has taken up several initiatives to reduce waste from manufacturing. These include better segregation of mix waste at source, projects on reduction of waste generations eg anaerobic biodigester, vermi-composting facilities, filter press across sites, co-processing at cement plant, recovering energy from waste & ETP load optimisation at major sites. All of

this has helped in achieving a reduction in total waste per tonne from manufacturing sites by more than 84% over 2008 baseline. More than 99% of total waste was recycled in

environment-friendly ways. In 2013, total 35 sites out of 38 sites became zero non-hazardous waste to landfills; an addition of five more sites compared to previous year.

REDUCING WATER USE IN  MANUFACTURING PROCESS

HUL has reduced water usage per tonne in our manufacturing operations by 37% compared to 2008 baseline. Various initiatives like recycling treated effluent for gardening, installing Reverse Osmosis (RO) technology at  various utilities, collecting & recycling of rain water, arresting major leakage and loss of water at our manufacturing sites led to this reduction. In 2013, three of the manufacturing sites in Bhuj, Khamgaon and Bengaluru became zero-discharge sites taking the total to 33 sites out of total 38 sites. During

the year, six more sites implemented rainwater harvesting, taking the total to 28 sites. The efforts have resulted in creating a potential of 371,000 kilolitres water per annum. Rainwater harvesting and use of RO for recycling effluent has helped these sites to reduce

fresh water abstraction by over 86,000 kilolitres. The factories at Amli and Doom Dooma adopted the rainwater harvesting and recycling model followed by  Goa where rainwater on the terrace area of the factory is collected and recycled for use in various processes in the factory.

HUL attempts at improving health and well being, reducing environmental impact and enhancing livelihoods

They improve health and well being by taking care of the nutritional value of their food products like sauces, jams, oils, soups etc.

They reduce environmental impact by using recyclable plastic, using energy efficient machinery, replenishing water 

They enhance livelihoods by engaging with farmers, empowering rural people to become entrepreneurs (Shaktimaan)