Consumer goods giant Unilever has achieved zero waste to landfill at all of its factories in the UK and Ireland and has brought forward plans for cutting waste further across its global operations.
Under its Sustainable Living Plan, Unilever announced that by 2020, total waste sent for disposal will be at or below 2008 levels despite setting the ambition of doubling the size of the business over the same period.
Over 130 Unilever factories across the world now send no non-hazardous waste to landfill - including the UK and Ireland. This has been achieved through the elimination of waste in the factories and greater waste reduction, reuse, recycling and recovery of waste.
It has reached the milestone of 100% of sites in 18 countries sending zero waste to landfill – the equivalent of removing more than one million household bins of waste every year.
However, Unilever has announced that it is stretching this target further by bringing the 2020 commitment forward by five years. According to the company a total of 252 factories across the world will send no non-hazardous waste to landfill by end of 2015.
Tony Dunnage, group environmental engineering manager, Unilever, said: "This is a significant achievement for Unilever as we make progress towards reaching our ambitious sustainability goals. It's a great example of how we are putting our sustainability strategy into action - by decoupling the growth of our business from its environmental impact. Today's landmark demonstrates how our factories are more environmentally responsible, which is helping us to save money to invest in our business.”