Four years after launching the groundbreaking Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, Unilever Ghana, the nation’s leading fast moving consumer goods company has achieved a great milestone in developing innovative solutions to eliminate waste in its factory.

The company, located in the heavy industrial area, Tema, was the first among Unilever factories in Africa to achieve zero non-hazardous waste to landfill.  This achievement forms part of its sustainability target of sending zero non-hazardous waste to landfill – a key element of Unilever’s sustainable growth ambitions.

In a press statement signed by Head of Corporate Affairs, Gabriel Opoku-Asare, Unilever Ghana moved down its non-hazardous waste to landfill by 50% in 2013 compared to 2012, and by July 2014 moved to zero.

This massive milestone has been realized through various initiatives such as undertaking and implementing waste reduction programs for all processes on its site, exploring recycling opportunities with local manufacturing companies for plastics, paper, food waste, and other waste items which are the major waste contributors.

Complete sorting and segregation of waste generated on its site and office for easy reuse and recycling as well as continues education and awareness creation for employees on waste reduction, and environmental impact.

Unilever has stated its ambition is to double the size of its business while reducing its environmental impact and is  commitment to not only reducing the negative impact on the environment but to reduce and save resources to contribute to future generation’s well-being.

Abdelaziz Salah, Unilever Supply Chain Director for West Africa said, “We believe there is only one viable way to run a business and that’s sustainably. That is the only way to create a brighter future for generations to come”

Unilever Ghana is also investing in a state of the art Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) which will improve the quality of the site’s waste-water to a level that qualifies for reuse.

Unilever Global Milestone

In January this year, Unilever announced it has achieved a key sustainability target of sending zero non-hazardous waste to landfill from its global factory network.  Believed to be a global first for delivering zero waste on this scale in more than 240 factories in 67 countries.

Globally eliminating waste has resulted in the company earning more than €200 million of cost avoidance and created hundreds of jobs.

Unilever has a strong track record in designing out waste from factories since 2012, when zero waste to landfill was added as a Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) target, the company has focused on embedding a “zero waste mindset” to rapidly accelerate the speed of the global roll out program, increase resource resilience and reach the USLP target well ahead of schedule.

The company was awarded a Gold class distinction for its excellence in sustainability performance by RobecoSAM in their sustainability yearbook in January 2015.