All About Our Action On Climate Change
Urgent global action is needed to tackle the climate emergency.
The science is clear: we must keep global warming to no more than 1.5⁰C above pre-industrial levels to prevent the worst effects of climate change, which would have a devastating impact on people and environments around the world.
At Rexona, we’re committed to being part of the solution. As part of the Unilever family we’re taking action to reduce our climate impact in many different ways; from using renewable energy, to transforming our transportation and reducing our carbon footprint. Let’s take a look at some of those areas in more detail.
Using renewable energy
What are our ambitions?
In January 2020, Unilever Australia joined Unilever globally in switching to 100% renewable electricity to power all of our operations, well ahead of our end-2020 target. The majority of Unilever’s renewable electricity supply is met through a five-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with energy retailer Red Energy, which directly supports a number of wind and solar farms across NSW, Victoria & South Australia. The remainder is covered by purchasing Renewable Energy Certificates.
How are we making a difference?
As a result of making this switch, Unilever has reduced its greenhouse emissions by about 30,840 tonnes of CO2, each year. This is equivalent to the emissions generated by powering more than 3,600 Australian homes or 6,600 cars annually.
Transforming our transportation
What are our ambitions?
Unilever’s distribution network currently transports our finished goods over 1.5 billion kilometres each year from our factories to the places where they’re sold. To help reduce our total carbon footprint across Unilever, we’re rethinking every aspect of our distribution and exploring more eco-efficient ways to get our products to you.
How are we making a difference?
In 2017, Unilever was the first FMCG organisation to join The Climate Group’s EV100 global initiative. As part of EV100, we have committed to a phased integration of electric vehicles into the fleets that we directly control – the ones we own or lease.
We shifted 100% of our New Zealand fleet to hybrid in February 2020. This has resulted in a 43% reduction in emissions from our fleet compared to 2018.
We’re also taking steps to transform our logistics, including increasing truck and container utilisation (ie. filling them to the brim) so that we can reduce the number of trucks on the road and ships at sea. And where we can, we prioritise low emission vehicles over heavy vehicles, as well as using rail transport over road.
Reducing our carbon footprint
What are our ambitions?
We’re proud to support Unilever’s ambitious goals. Together we aim to halve the greenhouse gas impact of our products by 2030. This includes all phases of our product lifecycle, ingredients and raw materials, manufacturing, distribution, retail, packaging, consumer use and disposal. Furthermore, we’re determined to reduce our direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by 100% from our own operations, which is part of our bold ambition to become carbon positive in our manufacturing by 2030.
How are we making a difference?
By improving our energy efficiency, embracing clean new technologies and switching to renewable energy sources, we’ve already significantly reduced our carbon footprint. But we also know that we can’t create a low-carbon economy alone. So we’re using our role as industry leaders to influence wider change and accelerating climate action with partners, suppliers and governments.
We’re taking a range of initiatives to reduce the greenhouse gases that result from the materials and packaging used in the production of our products. We’re actively exploring adding recycled aluminium into our aerosol cans sold in ANZ. We’re also exploring new technologies to replace our current materials and processes. We’re developing reusable and refillable product concepts, and through our ‘Less & Better Plastic’ programme, we’re developing lightweight deodorant spray nozzles, introducing recycled plastic (PCR) across our products, reducing the amount of plastic we use, and developing new packaging that’s easier to recycle.
At Rexona, we’re also working hard to ensure the emissions from our aerosols have the minimum impact on our environment. We’re constantly searching for new compounds that are low in both GHG emissions and VOCs.
Just like you, at Rexona we never stand still. We’re doing everything we can to reduce our emissions, reduce our waste and drive progress towards a low-carbon, sustainable future for our planet. With your help, we know we’ll get there.