Unilever achieves zero waste to landfill

Unilever Ghana has achieved its stated goal of zero non-hazardous waste to landfill in its factory within four years after the launch of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.

The great milestone in developing innovative solutions to eliminate waste was attained when the company moved down its non-hazardous waste to landfill by 50 per cent in 2013, compared to 2012, and by July 2014 moved to zero.

This achievement forms part of its sustainability target of sending zero non-hazardous waste to landfill – a key element of Unilever’s sustainable growth ambitions.

A statement signed by Mr Gabriel Opoku-Asare, Head of Corporate Affairs, Unilever Ghana, said the company was the first among Unilever factories in Africa to achieve zero non-hazardous waste to landfill.

It said this massive milestone has been realised through various initiatives such as undertaking and implementing waste reduction programmes for all processes on its site.

It said it also explored recycling opportunities with local manufacturing companies for plastics, paper, food waste and other waste items, which were the major waste contributors.

Mr Abdelaziz Salah, Unilever Supply Chain Director for West Africa, said: “We believe there is only one viable way to run a business and that is sustainably. That is the only way to create a brighter future for generations to come.”

The statement said Unilever Ghana is investing in a state of the Art Effluent Treatment Plant which would improve the quality of it site’s waste water to a level that qualifies for reuse.

It said in January this year, Unilever announced it has achieved a key sustainability target of sending zero non-hazardous waste to landfill from its global factory network.

It said globally, eliminating waste has resulted in the company earning more than € 200 million of cost avoidance and created hundreds of jobs.

Unilever has a strong track record in sending out from factories since 2012, when zero waste to land fill was added as a Unilever Sustainable Living Plan target (USLP).

The statement said the company has focused on embedding a “zero waste mind-set” to rapidly accelerate the speed of the global rollout programme, increase resource resilience and reach USLP target well ahead of schedule.

It said the company was awarded a Gold class distinction for its excellence in sustainability performance by RobecoSAM in their sustainability year book in January 2015.