A sustainability programme launched by Unilever, a leading supplier of food, home and personal care products in Mena, has saved businesses Dh 21 million ($5.7 million), a report said.

A sustainability programme launched by Unilever, a leading supplier of food, home and personal care products in Mena, has reduced the equivalent to 75,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, which has saved businesses Dh 21 million ($5.7 million), a report said.

Unilever and Dove announced the most recent results of its Unilever Mena Sustainable Living Plan in an event held at Dubai Chamber, Deira, UAE yesterday (May 25).

The plan calls for growing Unilever’s business, while reducing its environmental footprint and increasing its positive social impact. The plan has so far delivered growth for Unilever’s brands that have a social purpose, and delivered savings via cost avoidance by reducing the environmental impact of its operations and enhancing the livelihoods of those within its value chain.

The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan – third year Update event drew attention to the need for concerted effort and long-term partnerships between public and private entities for achieving transformational change.

“The Unilever Mena Sustainable Living Plan is our way of driving business growth in a responsible manner that also creates socio-environmental change,” Sanjiv Kakkar, Unilever’s executive vice president - Mena, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

“We recognise that sustainable business success requires equitable behaviour that preserves the environment and empowers stakeholders.

“We are proud to have made considerable progress towards our 2020 goals of improving the health & hygiene of 50 million people, halving our environmental impact and improving the livelihoods of thousands in collaboration with our Sustainability Partners. We will continue reaching out to create powerful momentum resulting in meaningful action,” he added.

Since the introduction of the Plan in 2012, Unilever Mena’s Health and Hygiene programme has reached up to 19 million consumers. Sustainability initiatives have helped deepen brand equities, while driving increased consumer preference, thus generating an Incremental Turnover (iTO) of EUR 7 million (Dh 28.65 million) for Unilever’s Signal and Lifebuoy brands.

On the environmental front, while Unilever has increased production volumes by 31 per cent since 2008, its eco efficiency measures have led to a 26% GJ/per tonne reduction in its energy use, the report said.

Unilever Mena has also reduced the water consumption in its manufacturing units and some office sites in Mena and has thus achieved a water consumption reduction of 5% m3/tonne.  

Unilever’s “Water Savers” campaign, which was launched to educate consumers on water conservation, has reached close to 13.5 million consumers, resulting in an iTO of Dh 9.54 million for its “Water Savers” brands such as ‘Lux Shower Gel’, ‘Lux Sunlight’, ‘Comfort’ and ‘Lifebuoy Hand Wash’. Brand sales have crossed 5,300 tonnes in terms of volume since the introduction of the programme in 2013.  

All nine Unilever Mena factories have achieved the goal of “Zero Waste to Landfill,” as has the Unilever Mena HQ in Dubai. Non-hazardous waste going to landfill has also been reduced 64 per cent overall when operations are included.

Unilever Mena has also been running several “enhancing livelihoods” programmes as part of its Sustainable Living Plan. These programmes have resulted in an incremental turnover of Dh58 million approximately. Project ‘Baqala’, the Gulf-wide programme that trains small grocery owners and budding retail entrepreneurs to manage their shops has trained 17,681 grocers between 2012 and 2014 in the science of retail and small business management.

In Egypt, Project ‘Zineb’ has improved the livelihoods of 2000 disadvantaged females by proving them with literacy, sales training, microloans through an NGO partner, and the opportunity to sell Unilever products.

Project ‘Safeer’, which is Project Zineb’s counterpart for men, has trained 550 young and educated, yet unemployed men to seek earning power by selling Unilever products.

The ‘Unilever Sustainable Living Plan – 3rd year Update’ event agenda included an engaging panel discussion on the importance of partnership building for concerted positive action.

A highlight of the event was the signing of a MoU between Unilever Mena and the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa). The agreement, which calls for Sewa and Unilever Mena to collaborate in educating consumers towards water conservation, was signed by Kakkar and Sewa’s chairman Dr Rashid Al Leem.

“We are proud to be working with influential partners in the public, private and civil society space to marshal resources towards creating positive change while also spurring business growth. We will continue exploring ways to make these partnerships even further reaching and effective. I would like to thank all our Sustainability Partners for helping us achieve our Sustainable Living goals,” Kakkar added.

Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan Update concluded with an awards ceremony recognizing Unilever’s sustainability partners.

“We are well aware that our success in the Mena region, and the wide reach of our messages have been achieved by the trust, support and collaboration with our sustainability partners. We wanted to take the opportunity in our 3rd Year Update to thank and  recognise them for their continuous support  in helping creating a future that looks very different to today’s world,” concluded Kakkar.- TradeArabia News Service