Use of Life Cycle Assessment by Unilever Benefits

Use of Life Cycle Assessment by Unilever Benefits and Consequences P J Mc. Keown Safety and Environment Assurance Centre Unilever Life Cycle Assessment of Food Products Technological Institute, Aarhus 8 th February 2001 Unilever SEAC 1

Outline of Presentation Unilever - Who are they? Unilever Environment Policy and Strategy Life Cycle Assessment - supporting the strategy Unilever SEAC 2

Unilever - Who are they? Multinational organisation >275, 000 employees Factories in >90 countries Sales in over 150 Countries Main product categories Foods and Home and Personal Care Products Unilever SEAC 3

Unilever - Foods Brands Unilever SEAC 4

Unilever Environment Policy Unilever is committed to meeting the needs of customers and consumers in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner, through continuous improvement in environmental performance in all our activities Unilever SEAC 5

Unilever Environment Policy • Measure and report environmental performance of manufacturing sites • Target setting - continuous improvement • EMS - all sites audited with improvement plans • Moving towards external accreditation - ISO 14001 Unilever SEAC 6

Unilever Environment Strategy • Eco-efficiency in the supply chain • Eco-innovation in products and services • Sustainable Development Initiatives • Communication • Life Cycle Assessment helps to support the Strategy Unilever SEAC 7

Eco-efficiency in the Supply Chain Historically - main focus of environmental improvements on own processes LCA applied to many of our product systems • Started in late 1980 s • Identify areas of significant environmental impact • Quantify Unilever’s contribution to the total impact • Broaden focus of environmental improvements Unilever SEAC 8

Example Product Systems Studied Using LCA • Frozen vegetables • Ice Cream • Tea • Tomato-based sauce • Margarine and spreads • Laundry products • Household cleaners • Shower gels • Toothpaste Unilever SEAC 9

Position of Unilever in Food Supply Chain Primary Raw Material Extraction Agriculture Raw Material Processor Unilever Factory Distribution/Retail Network Consumer Unilever SEAC 10

Frozen Vegetable Life Cycle FERTILISERS PESTICIDES E N E R G Y DIESEL FUEL GREENHOUSE GASES VEGETABLE AGRICULTURE LEACHATE LAND, WATER ELECTRICITY NATURAL GAS WATER R E S O U R C E S RUN-OFF VEGETABLE PROCESSING FACTORY PACKAGING WATER POLLUTION SOLID WASTE REPACK PROCESS FOR PEAS MATERIALS ELECTRICITY TRANSPORT FROZEN PRODUCT IN COLD STORE FUELS W A T E R Unilever FUELS DISTRIBUTION / RETAIL FUELS ELECTRICITY CONSUMER TRANSPORT AND STORAGE ELECTRICITY NATURAL GAS CONSUMER USE / WATER HEATING E M I S S I O N S PACKAGING WASTE SEAC 11

Outcome of Food LCA Studies Many impacts occur both upstream and downstream of our operations To achieve significant improvements and benefits for the environment a new approach was required: • Engage in partnership with the supply chain • Educate consumer Unilever SEAC 12

Eco-innovation in Products and Services • Awareness raising - product developers/marketing • Integrate eco-efficiency into design • Include environmental considerations in innovation awards • Improve understanding of consumer attitudes • Work in partnership with industry and retail trade Unilever SEAC 13

Integrate Eco-efficiency into Design • Use of existing tools to assess environmental impact of innovation projects • Development of a range of tools for use at decision points in Innovation Process Model • Pilot the use of eco-efficiency parameters to enhance creativity Unilever SEAC 14

Innovation Process Model Decision gates Ideas Feasibility Capability Launch Prepn. L A U N C H Post Launch Evaln. Rollout Full LCA Screening LCA Checklist/ Matrix Unilever Environmental Assessment Tools SEAC 15

Making Tools Available • LCA - Currently “niche” application • Often seen as “time-consuming”, “expensive”. . • Life cycle approaches must be simplified and made available • Web tool being developed for product/process developers Unilever SEAC 16

LCA Web Tool EXPERT / SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR (SEAC LCA) Remote PC plus Web browser (e. g. IE 5) Experts use system for LCA studies Create product templates, control panels, standard report formats, database maintenance and access control Windows NT Server (Port Sunlight) LCA Web application and tools (to create control panels and standard report formats) Product System Templates, TEAM™ Software, Databases Results returned via WEB in selected standard format Request submitted via WEB using standard Control Panel END USER (Trained) Remote PC plus Web browser (e. g. IE 5) Unilever SEAC 17

Sustainable Development Initiatives Unilever committed to 3 sustainable development themes • Sustainable Fisheries • Sustainable Agriculture • Clean Water Stewardship Unilever SEAC 18

Background to Sustainability - OBIA Overall Business Impact Assessment (OBIA) - Unilever Imprint l LCA of Unilever’s Global Business l Convert to relevant potential environmental impacts l Scale using estimated total global potential environmental impacts l Compare with normalised economic value added (sales/global GDP) l Identify areas of potential un-sustainability Unilever SEAC 19

Unilever’s Contribution to Environmental Performance Indicators 6 = sales as proportion of Global GDP 5 Bars 4 environment impact more than economic value added = Unilever potential impact as proportion of estimated total global potential impact 3 2 1 environment impact less than economic value added Unilever 0 energy solid waste ozone depletion acidification nutrification global warming photochemical smog SEAC 20

Sustainable Agriculture • The supply chain for over 2/3 of Unilever’s raw materials starts at farms or plantations • There are many problems associated with intensive agricultural systems – Loss of soil fertility – Reduction in biodiversity – Use of water (over 70% of global water abstraction used in agriculture) – Decline in quality of rural life 21

Sustainable Agriculture Pilot Projects • Black leaf tea • Peas • Spinach • Tomatoes • Palm Oil • Other oil seeds Unilever SEAC 22

LCA and Sustainable Agriculture • LCA methodology applied to each sustainable agriculture pilot crop • Provides understanding of environmental impacts across agricultural supply chains • Places Agricultural stage in context with rest of supply chain • Aids in the development of sustainability indicators Unilever SEAC 23

Approach to Sustainability Indicators • Produce high-yield crops while minimising losses during harvest and processing; increase nutritional quality while keeping the amount of inputs (e. g. fertilisers and pesticides) as low as possible • Ensure that soil fertility, water, biodiversity and air are not adversely affected • Use as many renewable resources as possible and minimise the use of non-renewables • Enable communities to protect and improve their well-being and environments 24

Sustainable Agriculture Ten Key Indicators: • Soil Fertility & Health • Soil Loss • Nutrients • Pest Management • Biodiversity • Product Value • Energy • Water • Social and Human Capital • Local Economy Unilever SEAC 25

Clean Water Stewardship • Water is used in the supply chain of our ingredients • Water is used in Unilever factories • Water is a vital ingredient in many of our products • Consumers often need water to use our products 26

LCA and Clean Water Stewardship • Water imprint undertaken based on OBIA approach • Regional assessment is now being undertaken • Based on Life Cycle approach across supply chain Unilever SEAC 27

Communication and LCA Internal • Awareness Raising • Innovation support External • Trade • Regulators • European Commission • Industry • Corporate Environment Report • Unilever Internet Site • Conferences, Presentations • Brochures, publications Unilever SEAC 28

Summary (1) Individual Product LCA • Identify significant environmental aspects across the life cycle of products • Place Unilever contribution in context • Aid in Internal communication and awareness raising • Support for new product launch (PR) • Uptake of environmental aspects in product development/innovation (ecodesign) • Tool development to extend use of LCA to a wider audience (web) Unilever SEAC 29

Summary (2) Strategic Level - LCA • Assessment of Unilever’s global environmental impact • Contributed to the initiation of the Sustainable Development projects • Life cycle approach is integral to certain aspects of the Sustainable Development projects LCA as a tool and concept is a key, integral component of Unilever’s environmental strategy Unilever SEAC 30