Partners Key to P&G's Sustainability Goals

The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t changed Procter & Gamble’s commitment to sustainability.Even as it ships more toilet paper than ever before, the manufacturer continues sourcing 100% of the pulp for Charmin from third-party-certified sustainable sources and, more broadly, continues working towards its Ambition 2030 sustainability goals, making social and environmental responsibility an integral component of every brand portfolio and building the function into all roles across the company.“We haven’t slowed down, we haven’t stopped, we didn’t delay any work, if anything we’ve ramped up and we’re getting ready to hit certain goals,” James McCall told the Path to Purchase Institute. The 23-year P&G veteran has been leading global supply chain sustainability for the last seven years, seeing the function move beyond a conservation mindset to a coordinated effort toward building a more circular supply chain, and this summer witnessing all the company’s 100-plus sites across the world reach 100% zero-waste-to-landfill status.Engaging and educating consumers around responsible consumption is also a big part of the job, as the consumer use phase plays a big role in overall product sustainability. That’s the purpose of the “Sustainability at Home” video series the manufacturer launched in response to the unprecedented lifestyle changes consumers are adjusting to today. Housed on YouTube, the “Sustainability at Home” videos each star P&G employees in their homes, sharing small changes consumers can make to reduce water and energy usage as well as improve recycling.Not your typical brand campaign, the video series is intended to help people see how they can personally make a difference by shrinking their carbon footprint at home. Yet many brands are still showcased throughout. One of the videos, for example, shows Tide and Downy in P&G’s “eco-box” that reduces the amount of plastic used in a typical detergent or softener bottle by 60% and resolves e-commerce related leakage issues. (See video below.)Originally designed for Tide, P&G was fortuitously expanding the successful eco-box design to Gain and Downy just as the pandemic revved up.“It worked out perfectly because we know consumers were ordering online more because they didn’t want to — or couldn’t — go to stores, so we saw a need to provide more sustainable choices online,” Rotha Braunt, a 15-year P&G veteran who for the last four years has overseen sustainability and wellness communications across North America fabric and home care brands, told the Institute.In April, the eco-box design also made its brick-and-mortar debut with the launch of NBD at Target. The wellness brand employs the packaging form for its detergent and fabric softener line.“We actually design sustainability into our products so people don’t have to make that choice of ‘Do I want a product that cleans or do I want a product that’s sustainable?’ We call this concept ‘irresistible sustainability,’” Braunt said.This summer, P&G is testing another sustainable packaging innovation with the May launch of all-paper, plastic-free deodorant tubes for “cedar and salt” Old Spice and “rose + geranium” Secret across 500 Walmart stores.“Our first package design did not pass a key recyclability test because the glue used to affix the label was affecting the quality of the recycled paper pulp … We quickly went back to the drawing board to find another label glue that doesn’t impede recycling, and this is what we are using now,” Anitra Marsh, associate director of global sustainability and brand communications at P&G beauty, told the Institute via email. “We [previously] conducted a very small test online only with Native but nothing at the size and scale of this in store.”The manufacturer is testing various sales models as part of what is internally referred to as the “lean innovation approach,” from direct-to-consumer to retailer-specific. The latter provides a key touchpoint that allows P&G to educate shoppers about the role they play in sustainability initiatives at the point of purchase.“In general, as we launch sustainable products we’ll often partner with a retailer,” McCall said. “Sometimes it’s based off of the supply and what we have available but a lot of times it’s also about that consumer engagement.”At Walmart, the Secret and Old Spice paper deodorant tubes are merchandised on a custom sidekick. The display communicates P&G’s goal of “Protecting You & Our Planet” and lists several stats explaining the benefits of the new packaging while assuring shoppers of continued product efficacy. Digital and social media activity supports, Marsh indicated. A home page carousel ad spotted on walmart.com in June linked to a dedicated showcase.

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