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Zero Waste Management: Over 65% of SC Johnson Factories are Now Zero Waste to Landfill
Reducing waste: By 2021, SC Johnson manufacturing sites won’t send any waste to landfill.
How can a company stop sending waste to landfill? Start by empowering teams to find solutions.
The World Bank projects that the amount of solid waste generated globally will nearly double by 2021, from 1.3 billion tonnes to about 2.2 billion tonnes of solid waste per year.* That’s a legacy we don’t want for the landfills of today or for future generations.
So, along with working to cut waste from our products, we’ve transitioned more than 65% of our factories to send zero manufacturing waste to landfill – with more coming soon.
Since 2000, we’ve been working to reduce global manufacturing waste from SC Johnson facilities. We try to eliminate waste before it’s generated, and to redirect waste that does occur for more environmentally responsible use.
Our goal was to cut global manufacturing waste by 70% by 2016, and we reached that target three years ahead of schedule. Today, we have less than 0.5 kilograms of manufacturing waste per 100 kilograms of product shipped.
Not that reducing waste is easy. It takes observation and innovation, which is delivered by our “Green Teams” around the world.
These teams help monitor and improve our sustainability practices, as well as educate about sustainability opportunities by suggesting process changes in everyday operations.
Here’s just one example: Our manufacturing plant in Indonesia gets materials in large metal drums. Once used, those drums were being crushed and incinerated, resulting in thousands of pounds of waste a year.
The local team saw this as an opportunity for change and came up with a plan. Instead of incinerating the drums, we would partner with a local recycling company to refurbish them. They could then be used in recycling and trash collection in the open market.
An innovative drum recycling programme led to more than 7,500 drums being diverted from incineration.
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I’m proud of the hard work of SC Johnson people at our manufacturing plants all around the globe who have stepped up to help protect the environment for future generations.
Beyond our global goal to keep reducing waste overall, we’re also working to bring more of our sites to zero-waste-to landfill-status. In 2017, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, became one of six SC Johnson manufacturing sites that successfully achieved zero manufacturing waste to landfill status.
Our sites in Toluca, Mexico; Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam; Rosslyn, South Africa; Kiev, Ukraine; and Nairobi, Kenya, went a step further in 2017 and reached zero waste to landfill status – sending no waste at all, including waste from cafeterias and office buildings, to landfill.
We’re working toward all manufacturing sites sending no waste to landfill by 2021. Five years ago, five SC Johnson’s sites were zero manufacturing waste to landfill. Today, 17 sites are zero manufacturing waste to landfill and 14 of those sites are zero waste to landfill.
Our sites in Toluca, Mexico; Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam; Rosslyn, South Africa; Kiev, Ukraine; and Nairobi, Kenya, went a step further in 2017 and reached zero waste to landfill status – sending no waste at all, including waste from cafeterias and office buildings, to landfill.
We’re working toward all manufacturing sites sending no waste to landfill by 2021. Five years ago, five SC Johnson’s sites were zero manufacturing waste to landfill. Today, 17 sites are zero manufacturing waste to landfill and 14 of those sites are zero waste to landfill.
Solutions are rarely one size fits all. That’s why the Green Teams are empowered to find solutions that fit the unique requirements at each site. They have to be ready to adapt to the environment and to make the best, most sustainable choices for the situation at hand.
Some sites compost food waste to be used for landscaping. At others, wastewater is treated for use as fertiliser in parks and other natural spaces.
In Nairobi, Kenya, for example, it’s not that common for people to segregate waste, because recycling and the infrastructure required are not widespread. But the SC Johnson people there learned about the benefits of waste management and how to properly separate the company’s waste, and now the site is zero waste to landfill.
Companies often define zero waste to landfill in different ways. For us, “zero means zero,” and we have a strict definition. A site must sustain zero waste to landfill for a set period of time before being named as such.
Some companies may claim “zero waste” with an asterisk and a footnote, indicating they may permit small percentages of waste to go to landfill when it could have been diverted otherwise. We don’t.
This also means municipal waste treatment only contributes to achieving zero waste at SC Johnson if that waste is directed for composting or methane conversion. (We do make an exception for biohazard, medical or certain types of hazardous waste, a small fraction of our total global waste, since local legislation may require special disposal of it.)
We are serious about this. For the sake of people and the planet, we will keep working every day to use resources wisely and conserve for the future. It is the least we can do for your children and ours.
* World Bank (2012) What A Waste – A Global Review of Solid Waste Management (Urban Development Series: Knowledge Papers). Chapter 3.