RB achieves zero manufacturing waste to landfill in ENA

Health and hygiene company RB has achieved zero manufacturing waste to landfill in Europe and North America (ENA). The achievement has now being realised by 31 of the company’s factories around the world - over 60%.

RB’s sustainability strategy ‘betterbusiness’, launched in 2012, includes targets to send zero waste to landfill and reduce waste per unit of production by 10% by 2020. The company has already hit zero waste five years early for its ENA sites and reduced waste per unit by 7% globally since 2013.

In 2014, RB made waste a focus of its sustainability plan. In order to accelerate progress and create a culture of zero waste, the company has done the following:

• Created a network of waste champions and established a ‘Buddy-Up’ program, partnering zero manufacturing waste to landfill factories with those that have not yet met the target. This will ensure that knowledge is transferred and the zero waste culture will continue to be embedded across the business.
• Launched a ‘Race to Zero’ campaign which included  a series of waste events encouraging competition amongst sites.
• Issued a global employee challenge to crowdsource innovative waste re-use and recycling ideas.
• Completed waste audits.

Over the first six months of this year, RB has diverted over 32,000 tonnes of waste from landfill and reduced the total percentage of waste sent to landfill to 15.6% vs 19.7% in 2013. As part of its work to reduce waste to landfill, RB has found a number of alternative revenue streams and disposal options:

• A very large site, Nowy Dwor in Poland, has seen savings of £300,000 per year from initiatives to achieve zero waste to landfill.
• At RB’s Baddi site in India, Dermi cool talcum powder waste is being used as a raw material for the production of plastic granules.
• At RB’s Bangpakong site in Thailand, wastewater treatment sludge is being turned into concrete blocks used in local schools.

Amedeo Fasano, EVP global supply, said RB’s next challenge is to share best practice amongst sites to get to 100% zero manufacturing waste to landfill. The company is also targeting a one-third reduction in water impact, one-third reduction in carbon and to have one-third of its net revenue coming from more sustainable products by 2020.