Kimberly-Clark has revealed that the percentage of recycled fibre it has used in its products has fallen for two years in a row in its 2013 Sustainability Report.
The manufacturer of brands such as Kleenex, Andrex and Huggies used 28.5 per cent recycled fibre in 2013 compared to 28.6 per cent in 2012 and 29.7 per cent in 2011.
However, it was still improved on the 27.5 per cent used in its manufacturing in 2010.
With Kimberly-Clark responsible for 4.4 per cent of total market pulp used in its products, it has increased the use of environmentally preferred fibre to 71.7 per cent from 66.1 per cent in 2012.
This improvement has come from using more Forest Stewardship Council virgin fibre.
Kimberly-Clark also didn’t meet its goal to achieve a landfill diversion rate of 85 per cent by 2013, but it did achieve 81.6 per cent up from 78 per cent in 2012.
Around 58 per cent of its facilities worldwide now meet its 2015 goal of sending zero manufacturing waste to landfill, and it expects to be 90 per cent landfill free by the end of 2014.
It has also made strides in reducing manufacturing waste and an example is that it is on track to eliminate the production of 210 million nappies that didn’t meet its quality standards.
The company also revealed that although sales volumes increased by 3 per cent, its global packaging sourcing remained flat versus 2012 due to progress in reducing the weight of packaging.
Kimberly-Clark senior director of global sustainability Lisa Morden said: “At Kimberly-Clark, our vision is to lead the world in essentials for a better life. Sustainability challenges us to deliver on this vision by being responsible stewards of the environment and positive contributors to our communities.
“In 2013, we continued to make progress towards the goals outlined in our 2015 strategy and we have engaged customers, employees, suppliers business partners, and social and environmental organisations to help us reach our goals.”
