Unilever campaign makes every employee ‘Head of Sustainability’

Unilever Australia has launched a new employee engagement campaign that aims to increase ownership and understanding of the company’s new Sustainable Living Plan.

As part of its ambitious plans to halve its environmental footprint while doubling its size, Unilever Australia is appointing every staff member as its new ‘Head of Sustainability.’

The campaign will see every Unilever employee in Australia and New Zealand receive a personalised ‘Head of Sustainability’ business card, along with a ‘job manual’ outlining Unilever’s business case for sustainability and why each employee has been given the new title.

Unilever says it wants to challenge the notion that the corporate world must choose between sustainability and business growth, by making sustainability a core part of everyone’s job.

 “This employee campaign to communicate our sustainability plans is a first for Unilever globally and we believe it sets us apart as a company that firmly puts sustainability at the centre of our business strategy,” says Chairman Unilever Australia and New Zealand Sebastian Lazell.

In Australia and New Zealand, Unilever has set itself 26 social, environmental and economic targets. These range from improving heart health to reducing greenhouse gases across the entire lifecycle of Unilever’s products, from raw material production right through to consumer use and disposal.

Unilever’s sustainability achievements in Australia and New Zealand to date include:

=9.7 per cent reduction in carbon emissions (GHG’s) per ton of production across operations since 2008

=32.7 per cent reduction in water use per ton of production since 2005

=1,620 ton reduction in like-like packaging since 2009, taking the company below 2007 levels even with business volume growth

Unilever’s portfolio features some of the world’s best-known household names. In Australasia, name brands include Lipton, Dove, Vaseline, Surf and Chicken Tonight.

Globally, Unilever has around 163,000 employees, and in 2009 generated annual sales of €40 billion.