“This is not green for the sake of being green. At the heart of it is we take consumer pain points, and we need products that are superior, affordable, and sustainable. We have some amazing examples where it is possible to reduce emissions and improve performance…,” said Deepak Subramanian, executive director, home care, at HUL.
The company is the market leader with over 43% of India’s laundry market with brands such as Surf, Rin, and Wheel. HUL’s home care business in India is the biggest for Unilever globally with annual sales of ₹21,230 crore. “This is a category where performance matters and we are very clear that if that drops in our hunt for sustainable products, then consumers will penalise us for it,” added Subramanian.
Last fiscal, HUL decarbonised operations with 97% reduction in CO2 emissions per ton of production against the 2008 baseline. It has been plastic neutral from 2021. About 95% of its paper and board in packaging, 82% of tomatoes and 69% of tea came from sustainable sources. It also delivered a combined water potential of over 2.6 trillion litres. Under Unilever’s Compass Commitment and Climate Transition Action plan, HUL has set out a clear pathway to achieve zero emissions in their operations by 2030 and net zero emissions across the value chain by 2039. However, it requires support from its supplier ecosystem to boost the company’s green quest.
“We have to work even more collaboratively with our partners to bring breakthrough technology…” said Rajat Arora, home care R&D head, South Asia and Asia at HUL.
“Soda ash is one of our key ingredients. We capture carbon from the atmosphere, which is used as a feedstock for the process. One of the feedstocks for the processes, ammonia, and working with the DFL and the partners, we will get the world’s first green ammonia being used to manufacture the soda ash. So that takes us to near net zero.”
