The document also highlights the new objectives for 2012 by implementing a revised set of five-year goals to build on the previous five-year programme established in 2007.
Goals for sustainable products fall short
One of the primary goals set out in the 2007 plan was to achieve $50bn in sales of products developed on the back of sustainable innovation by 2012 . The company said that so far it is already on track to acheive this goal with one year to go, having notched up cumulative sales of approximately $40bn to date.
The company is doing even better with respect to energy consumption, waste, water-use and emissions. The 2007 objectives were set to achieve a reduction of 20 percent in consumption over the five year period, leading to a total reduction of 50 percent over the course of the last decade.
For the five year program, targets for energy consumption and CO2 emissions are well on track, while the remaining three areas are already on target with a year still to go. Equally, all the objectives for the ten year period have already exceeded the targets.
Five-year goals CO2 emissions and energy consumption on track
The results highlighted how the company reduced its energy consumption by 16 percent over the course of the first four years of the program, while energy consumption has already fallen by 52 percent over the nine year period.
Equally ,CO2 emissions were reduced by 12 percent during the last four years, but registered a reduction of 53 percent over the nine year period.
The third prong of the company’s strategy highlights its social responsibility objectives, which included the goal of reaching 300 million children with its Live, Learn and Thrive program – a figure that has already been exceeded by 15 million.
Setting the bar high
“In September 2010, we announced a new long-term vision to guide our Company’s environmental efforts and establish expectations for our future performance," said P&G’s vice president of Global Sustainability Len Sauers.
"While we know we won't reach this vision overnight, we hold ourselves accountable to making progress toward these targets on a daily basis and our achievements this past year speak to those efforts.”
Last year P&G announced new objectives for its next ten year sustainability programme, which included replacing 25 percent of petroleum-based materials with sustainable materials, as well as providing 30 percent of power to plants from renewable energy.