Kimberly-Clark reports progress toward 2030 sustainability goals

This week, Kimberly-Clark published its annual sustainability report, including an update on the company’s progress toward its 2030 sustainability strategy and goals.

The goals address the social and environmental challenges of the next decade, with a mission of improving the lives and well-being of 1 billion people in underserved and vulnerable communities around the world – while safeguarding natural systems and reducing the company’s environmental footprint by 50 percent in key areas, including plastics, forests, water and climate.

“I’m proud of what our teams around the world have accomplished in the last year and to be part of a company that has never wavered in providing care for our people, our communities and our planet since it was founded 150 years ago,” said Mike Hsu, Chairman and CEO at Kimberly-Clark. “Our 2030 sustainability goals are critical to our purpose of Better Care for a Better World, and our sights are set on achieving them.”

Key highlights from the 2022 Kimberly-Clark Sustainability Report include:

• Better products

Kimberly-Clark continued to advance more sustainable solutions, including expanding its range of biodegradable baby wipes made with plant-based fibers and investing in reusable period and incontinence products. In addition, the company reached 5.1 percent of recycled content in its plastic packaging, moving Kimberly-Clark closer to its 20 percent recycled content goal for 2025.

• Better planet

By year-end, Kimberly-Clark achieved an absolute reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 42 percent and a 9.4 percent energy efficiency improvement versus the 2015 baseline. In addition, the company continued to address water scarcity in water-stressed locations, achieving a 42.1 percent reduction in consumption against its 2015 baseline.

• Diversity and inclusion improvements

Leading with inclusion, Kimberly-Clark is building an organization that leverages its diversity as a competitive advantage because the company is a global organization that reflects the consumers it serves around the world. On the Board of Directors, six of the 12 directors are women and four are ethnically diverse, while on the Executive Leadership Team, 31% are women and 54% are people of color.

• Social projects

Kimberly-Clark’s essential and well-known brands bring its purpose to life through social impact programs designed to enhance the lives of its consumers and communities. The company’s brand-led partnerships with hospitals, educational organizations and non-profit have helped to advance the well-being of 88.9 million people cumulatively since 2015.

 

“We’re committed to making lives better while safeguarding the world’s natural ecosystems and biodiversity. Kimberly-Clark’s purpose aligns our business motivations with our sustainability vision,” said Lisa Morden, Vice President of Safety, Sustainability and Occupational Health at Kimberly-Clark. “We are proud to partner with global NGOs and international organizations such as World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Plan International, WaterAid and UNICEF to strengthen communities by supporting sustainable practices and reducing barriers that limit accessibility to proper health, hygiene, education and sanitation.”

The company’s annual sustainability report and accompanying disclosures demonstrate the company’s progress through stories that highlight its work around the world as well as key data and metrics prepared with reference to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) disclosures.

For more information, access the full report here.