SC Johnson recently announced that it has achieved zero landfill status at its eighth global manufacturing facility, demonstrating the company's continued commitment to minimize its environmental footprint and reduce its global manufacturing waste by 70 percent by 2016. From 2000-2012, the company reduced its global manufacturing waste by 62 percent as a ratio to production.
The site in Manaus, Brazil, is the company's eighth zero landfill facility. Over the last few years, it implemented several initiatives that increased recycling rates, reduced packaging and expanded access to environmental education. SC Johnson's other zero landfill facilities include two in China and one each in Pakistan, the Netherlands, the United States, Poland and Canada. Through 2012, 10 of SC Johnson's global manufacturing facilities achieved waste diversion rates of at least 90 percent.
"As each of us looks to reduce the amount of waste we generate and increase recycling rates both at home and within our community, SC Johnson is committed to identifying innovative and scalable ways to minimize our global manufacturing footprint," said Kelly M. Semrau, chief sustainability officer at SC Johnson. "Waste reduction – and achieving zero landfill – is a key role in our business strategy to continuously innovate, making even better products in the most sustainable way possible."
SC Johnson aspires to eliminate waste altogether at each of its manufacturing facilities worldwide. As the company makes continual progress toward reaching this goal, it aims to decrease the amount of waste that is sent to landfills. By fostering a culture of sustainable behavior change throughout its manufacturing facilities and offices worldwide, SC Johnson seeks the proficiency and participation of its employees to identify innovative and scalable solutions to decrease waste.
In the Brazil facility's journey to achieving zero landfill, onsite leaders examined the site's entire production chain to identify its primary sources of waste, developed a revised material separation process and an innovative packaging reduction system, and launched an internal campaign to increase awareness around the environmental impact of employees' waste. Since 2012, the facility has prevented an average of 91 tons of waste per year from being sent to landfills and has increased its amount of recycled products by 16 percent.
For more information, visit www.scjohnson.com.
