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Sustainable Living

The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan

The Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) is our blueprint for achieving our vision to grow our business, whilst decoupling our environmental footprint from our growth and increasing our positive social impact. The Plan sets stretching targets, including how we source raw materials and how consumers use our brands.

We have three big goals

Improving Health
and well-being
for more than

1 billion

By 2020 we will help more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being.

Health & hygiene
Improving nutrition

By 2020 we will help more than a billion people to improve their health and hygiene. This will help reduce the incidence of life-threatening diseases like diarrhoea.

538 million people^† reached by end 2016

Reduce diarrhoeal and respiratory disease through handwashing

Provide safe drinking water^†

Improve access to sanitation

Improve oral health

Improve self-esteem

Find out more

We will continually work to improve the taste and nutritional quality of all our products. The majority of our products meet, or are better than, benchmarks based on national nutritional recommendations. Our commitment goes further: by 2020, we will double the proportion of our portfolio that meets the highest nutritional standards, based on globally recognised dietary guidelines. This will help hundreds of millions of people to achieve a healthier diet.

35% of our portfolio by volume met highest nutritional standards in 2016

Reduce salt levels

Saturated fat:

Reduce saturated fat
Increase essential fatty acids
Reduce saturated fat in more products

Remove trans fat

Remove sugar

Reduce calories:

In children's ice cream
In more ice cream products

Provide healthy eating information

Find out more

Reducing
environmental
impact by

1/2

By 2030 our goal is to halve the environmental footprint of the making and use of our products as we grow our business.*

Greenhouse gases
Water
Waste & packaging
Sustainable sourcing

Our products' lifecycle:

Halve the greenhouse gas (GHG) impact of our products across the lifecycle by 2030.

Our greenhouse gas impact per consumer use has increased by around 8% since 2010*

Our manufacturing:

By 2020 CO₂ emissions from energy from our factories will be at or below 2008 levels despite significantly higher volumes.

43%^† reduction in CO₂ from energy per tonne of production since 2008

Become carbon postive in manufacturing:

Source all energy renewably
Source grid electricity renewably
Eliminate coal from energy mix
Make surplus energy available to communities
New factories

Reduce GHG from washing clothes:

Reformulation

Reduce GHG from transport

Reduce GHG from refrigeration

Reduce energy consumption in our offices

Reduce employee travel

Find out more

Our products in use:

Halve the water associated with the consumer use of our products by 2020.⁺

Our water impact per consumer use has reduced by around 7% since 2010*

Our manufacturing:

By 2020 water abstraction by our global factory network will be at or below 2008 levels despite significantly higher volumes.

37%^† reduction in water abstraction per tonne of production since 2008

Reduce water use in manufacturing process:

New factories

Reduce water use in the laundry process:

Products that use less water

Reduce water use in agriculture

Find out more

Our products:

Halve the waste associated with the disposal of our products by 2020.

Our waste impact per consumer use has reduced by around 28%^† since 2010*

Our manufacturing:

By 2020 total waste sent for disposal will be at or below 2008 levels despite significantly higher volumes.

96%^† reduction in total waste per tonne of production since 2008

Reduce waste from manufacturing:

Zero non-hazardous waste to landfill
New factories

Reusable, recyclable or compostable plastic packaging

Reduce packaging

Recycle packaging:

Increase recycling and recovery rates
Increase recycled content

Tackle sachet waste

Eliminate PVC

Reduce office waste:

Recycle, reuse, recover
Reduce paper consumption
Eliminate paper in processes

Find out more

By 2020 we will source 100% of our agricultural raw materials sustainably.

51% of agricultural raw materials sustainably sourced by end 2016

Sustainable palm oil
Paper and board
Soy beans and soy oil
Tea
Fruit ^†
Vegetables^†
Cocoa
Sugar^†
Sunflower oil
Rapeseed oil
Dairy
Fairtrade Ben & Jerry’s
Cage-free eggs
Increase sustainable sourcing of office materials

Find out more

Enhancing
Livelihoods
for

millions

By 2020 we will enhance the livelihoods of millions of people as we grow our business.

Fairness in the workplace
Opportunities for women
Inclusive business

By 2020 we will advance human rights across our operations and extended supply chain.

67% of procurement spend through suppliers meeting our Responsible Sourcing Policy’s mandatory requirements. We continued to embed human rights, focusing on 8 salient issues in our Human Rights Report. Our Total Recordable Frequency Rate for safety improved to 1.01^† per million hours worked

Implement UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
Source 100% of procurement spend in line with our Responsible Sourcing Policy
Create framework for fair compensation
Improve employee health, nutrition and well-being
Reduce workplace injuries and accidents^†

Find out more

By 2020 we will empower 5 million women.

920,000 women enabled to access initiatives aiming to promote their safety, develop their skills or expand their opportunities

Build a gender-balanced organisation with a focus on management
Promote safety for women in communities where we operate
Enhance access to training and skills
Expand opportunities in our value chain

Find out more

By 2020 we will have a positive impact on the lives of 5.5 million people.

650,000 smallholder farmers, and 1.5 million small-scale retailers enabled to access initiatives aiming to improve agricultural practices or increase incomes

Improve livelihoods of smallholder farmers
Improve incomes of small-scale retailers
Increase participation of young entrepreneurs in our value chain

Find out more

Key to our performance

Achieved

This is the number of targets we have achieved
On-Plan

This is the number of targets we are on track to achieve
Off-Plan

This is the number of targets we are currently not on track
%
Of target achieved

This is the percentage of the target we are on track to achieve

^†Independently assured by PwC.
* Our environmental targets are expressed on a 'per consumer use' basis. This means a single use, portion or serving of a product.
⁺ In seven water-scarce countries representing around half the world's population.

Sustainable Living

SUSTAINABLE GROWTH: VALUE + VALUES

Living our purpose

Sustainable living news

Introducing our plan