P&G pledges five sustainability actions for 2022 across AMA
With its global Ambition 2030 Goals already in place, Proctor & Gamble (P&G) continues on its journey to greener pastures with regionalised pledges designed to get the consumer goods giant to its goals faster and more efficiently.
Enter its latest lineup of commitments, a list of sustainability actions for 2022 designed to help protect and preserve nature across its Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMA) operations and ultimately to “help us accelerate our results towards P&G’s broader Ambition 2030 goals”, says Magesvaran Suranjan, P&G President for AMA.
The action plan for 2022, which is built on the theme #ItsOurHome, was unveiled during P&G’s recent virtual AMA Sustainability Summit to the company’s 17,000 employees, to help employees “embed Environmental Sustainability as a core part of their business priorities”, adds Suranjan.
Progress already made in the region
Gains have already been made across the region with progress especially on using alterantive energy sources with P&G AMA now boasting a diverse portfolio of renewable energy projects and plans to continue developing new approaches based off locally available resources. Across its AMA sites, the company has sourced/recycled a total of 4 billion litres of water per year from circular sources and will continue to improve moving forward.
Furthermore, its manufacturing sites in Saudi Arabia and Sub Sahara Africa are Zero Waste to Landfill, with P&G collaborating with external partners across the region to pilot waste infrastructure interventions.
2022 sustainability action plan
The actions are categorised into three sections including: Improving Ecosystems (Protection, Conservation and Livelihoods), Active Water Conservation, and Plant and Consumer Waste Management.
- Forests for Good initiative P&G is committed to actively protecting nature, beginning with 12 pilot programs in 12 months across the AMA region to start its Forests for Good initiative, by planting trees that help improve local ecosystems. Piloting blockchain technology that increases traceability, the aim of the program is to better connect consumers with the impact they are having, by allowing viewability of the trees that have been planted. For this initiative, P&G has partnered with EcoMatcher to pilot their blockchain technology to increase transparency, together with local conservation organisations in each country where they are starting this journey. According to Omar Channawi, CEO P&G Middle East, Global Development Markets and Sub Sahara Africa, the first initiative to kickstart the regional P&G Forests for Good Programme has already happened. "The Dubai Mangrove Forest was planted on April 19th by the Emirates Marine Environmental Group (EMEG), the first of more to come.”
- Sustainable investments P&G will continue its investments into programmes to conserve landscapes, protect species and improve sustainable farming practices.
- Water stewardship action plan With water scarcity a challenge facing many parts of the world including several regions within AMA, P&G pledges that by end 2022, 100% of the company’s manufacturing sites located in high water stress areas including its Jeddah and Dammam plant will develop a water stewardship action plan in accordance with the externally recognised Alliance for Water Stewardship standard.
- Zero manufacturing waste to landfill P&G AMA has qualified 100% of its plants to Zero Manufacturing Waste to Landfill, including Middle Eastern P&G manufacturing plant in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Dammam , Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where no waste goes to landfill.
- Reduction in consumer waste To comprehensively work to reduce consumer waste by investing in packaging innovation across brands and collaborating with external stakeholders on piloting waste infrastructure interventions across several of its markets.
These regional pledges are the latest by P&G, who is committed to making a difference, including ensuring its global operations are becoming carbon neutral for the decade.
“Our purpose is to leave the world in a better place than we found it, and the time to act is now,” adds Suranjan. “Our commitment to environmental sustainability is a critical component of P&G's growth strategy.”
