Essity are one of the world's largest producers of paper hygiene products. They provide products and services to hundreds of millions of people every day. As such, they are in a position to make a real and positive impact on people and the environment through their key sustainability platforms - 'more from less' and 'circularity'.
In achieving 'more from less' Essity aim to innovate new and better product and manufacturing solutions with a lower environmental footprint, and specifically by maximising resource efficiency and minimizing the impact of their use on the environment.
For example, most of Essity’s water is used to transport fibres during production processes and the remainder is mainly used as cooling water. Currently 73% of the water used is drawn from surface sources. Essity’s tissue operations have targetted to reduce water usage and organic content by 10% by 2020 against a 2014 base year.
As another example, fresh wood-based and recycled fibre accounts for the largest share of material in Essity’s products. Forest is a natural resource, which in addition to providing raw material plays a key role for the climate and biodiversity. In 2019 Essity introduced a new target in that all raw materials derived from wood-based fresh fibre in the company’s products and packaging should be certified in accordance with the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC™).
Essity’s ambition is to develop products and services for a circular society. This means the minimisation of waste and that all and any waste generated both in the production and consumption of products should ultimately be re-cycled and re-used in the creation of new products or items of value.
For example, tissue products are made of renewable fresh or recycled fibres. After use, tissue products can be incinerated, creating renewable energy, or fully composted, return the waste to nature. Essity are currently working to improve composting, and together with selected customers have several pilots to recycle paper hand towels.
It is also one of Essity's goal that all solid waste products generated in manufacturing should to be fully recovered with zero waste to landfill by 2030; currently the recovery rate is 63% (2019). This target drives a series of measures and local adaption to find suitable ways to recover Essity’s various types of waste.
The above has provided only the briefest of introduction's to Essity's comprehensive sustainability programmes. If you are interested to find out more visit their sustainability pages.