Our global waste crisis is enormous, with billions of tons of trash generated each year, and much of it ending up in landfills instead of being recycled. A major reason recycling rates remain low is actually the extreme difficulty of efficiently sorting and separating the complex jumble of materials in our waste streams. But what if AI recycling robots could take over this dull, dirty, and dangerous work from human sorters? That’s the ambitious vision of EverestLabs, a startup aiming to totally transform recycling as we know it.
AI Recycling Robots Faster, Smarter
EverestLabs was founded in 2020 by a team of engineers and technologists from Apple, Google, NVIDIA, and other leading tech companies. They’re on a mission to bring the power of artificial intelligence, computer vision, and advanced robotics to tackle the massive challenges facing global recycling efforts. Imagine conveyor belts loaded with trash of all types, with sophisticated robotic arms directed by AI rapidly grabbing items and precisely sorting them into different bins for recycling.
RecycleOS is an AI recycling robot operating system for recycling plants that uses vision technology, robotics, and data analytics to improve the efficiency and accuracy of recycling. It uses 3D depth-sensing cameras to identify recyclable materials like plastics, metals, and paper. The system then uses robotic arms to sort the materials into different bins. RecycleOS also uses data analytics to track the system’s performance and identify improvement areas.
RecycleOS is designed to be more efficient and accurate than traditional manual sorting methods. It is being used in a variety of places, including recycling centers, manufacturing plants, and retail stores. The company has also partnered with a number of major companies, such as Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble, to deploy AI recycling robots.
Coca-Cola: EverestLabs and Coca-Cola have partnered to deploy RecycleOS at a number of Coca-Cola bottling plants in the United States. The goal of the partnership is to improve the efficiency and accuracy of recycling at Coca-Cola’s plants.
Procter & Gamble: EverestLabs and Procter & Gamble have partnered to deploy RecycleOS at a number of Procter & Gamble manufacturing plants in the United States. The partnership aims to improve the efficiency and accuracy of recycling at Procter & Gamble’s plants.
In addition to Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble, EverestLabs has also partnered with a number of other major companies, including:
PepsiCo
Kraft Heinz
Walmart
Target
Unilever
It may sound futuristic, but EverestLabs AI recycling robots are already built and working. As prototypes, they can sort the waste at speeds no human worker could match. The AI recycling robot system can consistently achieve over 90% accuracy across dozens of material categories like plastics, paper, electronics, and metals. That leads to much purer recycled material streams that retain their value.
Potentially Huge Business Scale
EverestLabs is running pilot projects with major waste haulers and recyclers to prove the AI recycling robot solution. They’ve also raised $16 million in venture funding to hire engineers and scientists across AI, computer vision, and robotics disciplines to turn the technology into commercial-ready products. The founders envision their automated recycling concept eventually operating 24/7 at massive scales, processing waste volumes human sorters could never handle.
Adoption faces challenges, from high upfront costs to reluctance by old-school waste companies to change. But the sheer size of the opportunity makes EverestLabs hard to ignore. The environmental payoffs would be enormous if advanced intelligent automation could boost global recycling rates and economics. Untold millions of tons of usable materials could be recovered rather than dumped or incinerated.
As urbanization intensifies globally, solving the waste crisis is increasingly urgent. EverestLabs and other startups applying cutting-edge tech see huge potential for robots and AI algorithms to handle the waste sorting that humans simply cannot physically achieve. Autonomous recycling may even protect thousands of vulnerable workers from hazardous manual labor. The future remains uncertain, but companies like EverestLabs show how emerging technologies could positively disrupt even our most entrenched industrial systems.
The firm, which owns brands such as Andrex and Huggies, is celebrating the fact that the project near Barrow-in-Furness was successful in securing a place on the UK Government’s Hydrogen Business Model Strategy Shortlist. The Shortlist was announced last week as part of a bumper day of green policy publications, detailing 20 projects set to share public funding support and benefit from streamlined planning processes.
Led by Carlton Power, the project is seeking to co-locate 35MW of electrolyser facilities and a 40MW energy storage system at the Cumberhead West Wind Farm. The 126MW wind farm is currently under construction and completion is expected later this year. Green hydrogen production should then be able to commence in 2025.
Kimberly-Clark is planning to offtake green hydrogen from the project to serve its paper mill in Cumbria, replacing natural gas. This plan was first announced to the general public in the summer of 2022, but the confirmation of Government support is a significant step forward.
Until the hydrogen production begins, Kimberly-Clark will offtake renewable electricity from the wind farm via a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). It will use this electricity at three manufacturing sites and two distribution centres across the UK.
HYRO
Two additional green hydrogen projects involving Kimberly-Clark were also detailed on the UK Government’s Hydrogen Business Model Strategy Shortlist – one in Northfleet, Kent, and the other in Flint, North Wales.
Both of these projects are being led by HYRO, a joint venture between RES and Octopus Energy’s generation arm. HYRO’s long-term vision is to invest £3bn green hydrogen in the UK.
The two electrolyser projects will have a combined capacity of 22.5MW. As with the project in Cumbria, they will use renewable electricity to electrolyse water, thus producing green hydrogen. The hydrogen will be stored and fed into hydrogen-ready boilers within Kimberly Clark sites. A timeline has not yet been announced for the completion of the renewable arrays nor the electrolysers.
Kimberly-Clark’s managing director for the UK and Ireland, Dan Howells, said: “A lot of hard work has gone into developing the green hydrogen projects and it’s fantastic to see the UK government selecting them for the funding shortlist.
“These developments represent a significant stepping stone towards our big ambition to move solely to renewable energy to manufacture Andrex, Kleenex, Huggies, WypAll and Scott in the UK by 2030. We can only reach our decarbonization goals via innovative partnerships and cutting-edge technology.”
Other manufacturers exploring hydrogen as a natural gas replacement in the UK include Unilever, Pilkington Glass, Quorn Foods, Kelloggs, PepsiCo, Essity, Encirc and Jaguar Land Rover.
The business announced the certification on Wednesday (24 August), confirming that it had passed its B Impact Assessment. The Assessment measures the positive impact an organisation has in five fields, namely environmental impact; interaction with workers; interaction with communities; impact on customers and good governance. Topics relating to both day-to-day operations and long-term plans and business models are taken into account.
edie has reached out to Unilever ANZ to request a copy of its B Impact Assessment. These are required to be made publicly available.
Around 460 businesses in Australia and New Zealand have certified as B Corps. Globally, a further 4,900+ have certified. Most of these are SMEs, as B Lab, the body overseeing B Corp certification, originally targeted its work in this field. It is yet to launch certification for large multinational businesses; this is in the pipeline.
“When businesses of the size and scale of Unilever Australia & New Zealand certify, it shows just how much the idea of business delivering positive impact on people and planet has grown,” said B Lab Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand’s chief executive Andrew Davies. “Their certification sends a powerful signal that will further advance change in the consumer goods sector, and our broader global economic system.”
Strategic approach
Unilever ANZ stated that the global company’s overarching corporate and sustainability strategy, The Compass, has proved “integral” to the identification and implementation of changes that have improved its B Impact Assessment score to the point of certification.
The Compass was launched in 2020 and is headlined by an overarching vision of becoming “the global leader in sustainable business”, ensuring that all parts of the business are “purpose-led” and “future-fit”.
On the environmental side of things, the Compass is supported Unilever’s Climate Transition Action Plan – its roadmap to reaching net-zero value chains by 2039 that has been backed by more than 99% of its shareholders. It also includes updated ambitions on issues including packaging and waste, gender equality, human rights and social inclusion.
Environmental actions already taken by Unilever ANZ under the compass include procuring 100% renewable electricity in operations; reaching zero-waste-to-landfill status for factories and piloting regenerative agriculture methods.
“We’re thrilled to achieve B Corp Certification, as both a validation of the actions we’ve implemented across Australia & New Zealand, and a motivator to strive even further,” said Unilever ANZ’s chief executive Nicky Sparshott, adding that he and his team are “already planning how we can turbocharge our positive impact”.
Sparshott added that the business will need to work collaboratively with suppliers, staff and communities to maintain its certification and encourage other businesses to follow suit. All B Corps are required to re-certify every three years.
The news will doubtless fuel the debate around which companies should be able to certify as B Corps. When Nespresso certified earlier this year, many SMEs which have been B Corps for years questioned whether a Nestle-owned entity, or a company sourcing coffee from regions facing systemic human rights issues, should be able to certify.
The world’s biggest shipping company is investing $1.4bn (£1bn) to speed up its switch to carbon neutral operations, ordering eight container vessels that can be fuelled by traditional bunker fuel and methanol.
The Danish shipping business Maersk said the investment in new vessels would help to ship goods from companies including H&M Group and Unilever, while saving more than 1m tonnes of carbon emissions a year by replacing older fossil fuel-driven ships.
The vessel order, placed with South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries, is the single largest step taken so far to decarbonise the global shipping industry, which is responsible for almost 3% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Søren Skou, the Maersk chief executive, said: “The time to act is now, if we are to solve shipping’s climate challenge.
“This order proves that carbon neutral solutions are available today across container vessel segments and that Maersk stands committed to the growing number of our customers who look to decarbonise their supply chains.
“Further, this is a firm signal to fuel producers that sizeable market demand for the green fuels of the future is emerging at speed.”
The eight vessels, which will each have capacity for 16,000 containers, are expected to be delivered by early 2024. They will be 10-15% more expensive than bunker fuel container ships, each costing $175m.
The Danish company aims to only order new vessels that can use carbon neutral fuel as it seeks to deliver net zero emissions by 2050.
Maersk said more than half of its 200 largest customers – including Amazon, Disney and Microsoft – had set or were in the process of setting targets to cut emissions in their supply chains.
Maersk plans to run the vessels on methanol, rather than fossil fuels, as soon as possible but admitted this would be challenging because it would require a significant increase in the production of “proper carbon neutral methanol”.
The company set out plans last week to produce green fuel for its first vessel to operate on carbon neutral methanol alongside REintegrate, a subsidiary of the Danish renewable energy company European Energy.
The Danish facility is expected to produce about 10,000 tonnes of carbon neutral e-methanol, using green hydrogen combined with carbon emissions captured from burning bioenergy such as biomass.
Henriette Hallberg Thygesen, the chief executive of Maersk’s fleet and strategic brands, said the green methanol partnership could “become a blueprint for how to scale green fuel production” and “decarbonise our customers’ supply chains”.
The new additions to Maersk’s fleet are “the ideal large vessel type to enable sustainable, global trade on the high seas in the coming decades”, she said, and “will offer our customers unique access to carbon neutral transport on the high seas while balancing their needs for competitive slot costs and flexible operations”.
Leyla Ertur, the head of sustainability at H&M Group, said Maersk’s investment in large vessels operating on green methanol was “an important innovative step supporting the retailer’s climate goals” to become climate neutral by 2030 and climate positive by 2040.
One of the world’s biggest food and consumer goods companies is set to introduce carbon footprint labels on its products for the first time by the end of the year – marking a key moment in the shift to badge products with their cost to the planet, The Independent reveals today.
Unilever, which has 75,000 products including Magnum ice-cream, Pot Noodle, Marmite and Hellmann’s mayonnaise, said that the carbon footprint of 30,000 of these products would be measured within six months, with carbon footprint labels on a select range by the end of 2021.
The labels will be piloted on up to two dozen products in Europe or North America and could adorn packaging in UK supermarkets by the end of 2022. Unilever said it plans to badge its entire product range over the next two to five years and also floated the idea of supermarkets creating “carbon-neutral or carbon-friendly” aisles, just like they have ”vegetarian aisles”, to help consumers make greener choices.
It is the first move by a global player to introduce carbon footprint labelling and could shake up supply chains in the food and drinks industry, causing other companies to fall in line or accelerate their plans. It comes as Boris Johnson’s food tsar, Henry Dimbleby, recommended a move towards consistent labelling that shows the environmental impact of products. The National Food Strategy, released on Thursday, said the Food Standards Agency should work with government and industry bodies to “develop a harmonised and consistent food-labelling system”.
It said: “Creating a simple and consistent method of labelling would ensure that all shops and manufacturers give us the same kind of information about our food. Having to record information about the environmental impact of food production could also influence the way that manufacturers make their products.”
Last month, Marks & Spencer and Costa Coffee agreed to pilot an “eco-score traffic light-style” label on select own-brand products from September. The label, developed by scientists at the University of Oxford and launched by the non-profit group Foundation Earth, will be graded into tiers marked A to G and colour-coded – green for the most environmentally friendly and red the least. It will involve 13 brands, including meat brand Naked, and they hope to follow up the pilot by expanding into Europe next year.
Previously carbon footprint labels have been used only by plant-based companies, such as Quorn Foods and Oatly.
Marc Engel, Unilever’s global head of supply chain, said: “We are halfway to ‘knowing’ what the carbon footprint of our product range is and we think now is the moment to begin ‘showing’. Our market research shows that younger consumers especially are very impacted by climate change and are keen to use their buying behaviour to send a message. We intend to roll out carbon labels on our entire product range over the next two to five years and believe it will transform not only the actions of consumers, but of the thousands of businesses in our supply chain as well.”
Unilever’s move was welcomed by the government as well as early adopters. A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “We support Unilever’s ambitions to include carbon labelling on its products to help consumers in the fight against climate change.”
Pot Noodle is part of Unilever’s vast product range, Source: Independent
Sam Blunt, global marketing operations director for Quorn Foods, said the announcement of labels by the end of 2021 was “exciting”, adding: “A business of that size could really drive things forward and make a big difference, especially if they quickly roll out the labelling across their whole product portfolio.”
With about a third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions coming from the food industry, according to the United Nations, carbon footprint labels serve as a quick way for consumers to evaluate the climate impact of a product. Measured as a carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) value, it shows the environmental cost from farm to fork, taking into account fertiliser use, energy needs, transport, processing, refrigeration and packaging.
But arguments as to what data to include in the label – as well as underlying concerns as to how accurate that data is – still divide opinion behind the scenes.
The British Retail Consortium, the trade body representing UK retailers, warned that “capturing all the data to generate an accurate and scientifically trustworthy label is complex – and we are not there yet across the full spectrum of retail products”.
Its head of sustainability, Peter Andrews, said: “Take a simple product like blueberries. The carbon impact fluctuates according to whether they are ripened indoors or in a field, which is itself a factor of the weather, which cannot be predicted. A lot of data still needs to be captured before consumers can hold up two bags of rice or two brands of beef burgers and make a robust choice between them based on carbon labels.
“We think carbon labels will play an important role in helping everyone live lower carbon lifestyles, but trust in a label is essential and that means the data supporting it needs to be robust.”
The label itself is contentious and different forms have been floated: either an exact footprint measure stated as a CO2e value – though critics say this could be hard for the public to grasp – or a simpler traffic-light system. The further question – as to whether the label should calculate only carbon emissions or take in wider environmental issues such as biodiversity and water usage – also divides the room. Andrews said: “A single, universal approach to labelling is critical to enabling the public to compare products across different brands. A proliferation of labels would not be helpful.”
But Unilever’s Engel said: “We believe speed is important to generate momentum and we intend to build accuracy along the way. For the data, we will use a combination of industrial averages taken from approved databases together with actual carbon measures where we have them, such as with our Ben & Jerry’s range. We think our labels will be around 85 per cent accurate. Ideally we want a world where a carbon footprint is as simple to measure as a calorie count, but it took 30 years to standardise calories and we don’t have 30 years to standardise carbon labels.”
Unilever is “spending millions on focus groups and consumer feedback” before settling on what form its labels will take. “We’re considering a traffic-light system supplemented by more precise data on the website, but we are still working through the options because it has to make sense to the consumers,” said Engel.
In contrast, food giant Nestle, which has over 2,000 brands in 186 countries, said that to focus exclusively on carbon emissions would be a mistake. Emma Keller, head of sustainability, said: “We shouldn’t only use labels to drive down carbon emissions and forget about biodiversity and animal welfare. It’s in all our interests to have an industry-wide, harmonised approach to labelling that is led by the science and adopted across Europe. We think scientifically robust composite labels will emerge over the coming years and that the Cop26 climate summit in November will accelerate the debate, but that we shouldn’t rush into it. For it to be effective in reducing emissions and providing transparency and agency to consumers, nobody should do this alone or strike out with their own method. Collaboration is essential.”
Defra, criticised by some in the industry for sitting on its hands, told The Independent that it hoped to use its Environment Bill “to seek powers to ensure information about environmental impacts, such as carbon emissions, is provided with certain products” – but gave no timeline for doing so or sense of how such powers might work. Defra added that “the need to regulate will be reduced in those sectors where industry is already taking action”.
Luke Pollard, shadow environment, food and rural affairs secretary, said: “In the middle of a climate and nature emergency, people want to do what they can to help the environment, but at the moment they don’t have the information to make more sustainable buying choices. Labour would show leadership with clearer labelling on carbon and environmental credentials, so people can back the brands and products doing the right thing by our planet.”
Engel said: “We have to accept that governments and regulators are going to be late to the party and take action ourselves.”
Food companies agree that winning over the public is critical if this is not to end in the same way as Tesco’s botched attempt at carbon labelling in 2011. A Tesco spokesperson said: “We trialled carbon footprint labelling and abandoned it after finding they did not influence customer purchasing decisions and that the labels were hard to understand. We learned that we cannot affect transformational change alone and have called for collective action across the food industry.”
Today, a decade later and with climate change rising sharply up the public’s agenda, consumers appear hungry for information. A 2020 survey by the Carbon Trust, which launched one of the world’s first carbon footprint certification schemes, showed that almost two-thirds of adults in the UK support carbon labels with around 80 per cent backing them in France, Italy and Spain. A recent EU study reported that 57 per cent of consumers in the bloc were receptive to environmental claims when making purchase decisions.
Engel said: “Everybody is aligned on the urgency of this as well as the need for collaboration. Our view is the more pilots the better. At the end of the day, we’d have no problem adjusting our label to fall in line with others if it’s for the common good. We’re not trying to be competitive. We win and lose together when it comes to climate change. We agree with Nestle that we need to work together to make this happen, but we need to start now. In the debate between speed and perfection, we are opting for speed and will refine as we go.”
Unilever has introduced new technology to create a paper-based detergent bottle. A prototype is being used for the OMO laundry brand (also known as Persil, Skip & Breeze) and will be introduced in Brazil in 2022.
The new bottles are made of sustainably sourced pulp and can be recycled in the paper waste stream. The inside of the bottle is sprayed with a proprietary coating that repels water, enabling the paper-based packaging to hold liquids.
Unilever wants to roll the paper-based bottles out across its European markets and is piloting the same technology for haircare bottles.
The bottles have been developed through the Pulpex consortium. Last year, drinks manufacturers Diageo and PepsiCo joined Unilever in the formation of Pulpex, with venture management firm Pilot Lite. The Pulpex consortium was set up to produce a variety of plastic-free, single-mould bottles that will be used across the major FMCG companies.
Unilever’s chief research and development officer, Richard Slater, said: “To tackle plastic waste, we need to completely rethink how we design and package products. This requires a drastic change that can only be achieved through industry-wide collaboration.
“Pulpex paper-based bottle technology is an exciting step in the right direction, and we are delighted to be working together to trial this innovation for our products. Innovating with alternative materials is a key part of our sustainable packaging strategy and will play an important role in our commitment to halve our use of virgin plastic materials by 2025.”
edie recently spoke with Slater to discuss how a focus on ‘better, less and no plastic’ is enabling the consumer goods giant to reduce its plastics footprint globally while improving the recyclability of packaging.
In 2019, Unilever, which owns iconic brands such as Dove, Cif and Magnum, set a target to halve its use of virgin plastic by 2025 by reducing plastic packaging by more than 100,000 tonnes, increasing the amount of recycled plastics it uses and collecting and processing more plastic packaging than it sells.
Unilever is the latest corporate to trial paper-based bottle prototypes.
The Coca-Cola Company has been working with other big-name companies, including Absolut, L’Oreal and Carlsberg, to develop the bottles. The designs are being shared through a collaborative company set up to facilitate this joint project, called The Paper Bottle Company (Paboco).
Fellow Paboco member Absolut confirmed plans for its first real-world trials of paper-based bottles. The alcoholic beverage giant has sold 2,000 of the bottles across its Swedish and UK markets since autumn 2020.
Humanity is falling short of its climate goals. More investment is urgently needed—especially in the next decade—to transition to a low-carbon economy. The IPCC estimates that achieving a low-carbon transition will require US$1.6-$3.8 trillion annually between 2016 and 2050 for the supply-side energy system alone. Alongside ambitious emissions reductions from their own carbon footprints, funding from businesses—including carbon credit purchases, philanthropy, and impact capital—can be catalytic in scaling investment in the climate solutions necessary to achieve a just and sustainable 1.5°C future. The impact in play is enormous. For example, natural climate solutions have the potential for capital flows greater than $100 billion annually, with opportunity across the world and especially in the Global South.
Significant momentum exists: Many organizations and initiatives are already working with funding from businesses to deploy climate solutions. The BASCS offers an opportunity to help connect and support these initiatives and the surrounding community of practice by providing a central, neutral platform for businesses and experts to meet, learn, discuss, and act together.
The work will be grounded in core principles:
Emissions Reduction: BASCS members prioritize work to reduce their own emissions in line with a science-based target (e.g., through the SBTi) and pursue high impact climate investments that go even further to curb climate change. Members will seek scalable solutions to help make hard-to-achieve reductions feasible in the future. Climate solutions funding is a complement rather than a substitute for science-based emissions reductions.
Ambition to Action: BASCS members work to catalyze and deepen investments in global emissions reductions, avoided emissions and removals across and beyond value chains (e.g., mobilizing others in the corporate sector to invest alongside us).
Measurable Impacts: BASCS members support applying sound and verified methodologies to ensure high social and environmental integrity of investments. Carbon credits claimed by companies must represent additional, real, quantifiable, and verifiable emissions reductions or removals, and must not be double counted.
Co-Benefits: BASCS members support investments that deliver environmental and social integrity and co-benefits and have strong safeguards, in addition to driving real greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Members will seek investments that quantify these co-benefits when possible.
BASCS seeks to serve and engage all organizations working to scale and improve climate solutions opportunities for business investment. To learn more and engage with the Business Alliance to Scale Climate Solutions, please visit scalingclimatesolutions.org
Founder Commentary
Amazon “As part of our commitment to The Climate Pledge, Amazon is on our way to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, which is good for the planet, people and our business. We remain focused on driving decarbonization strategies throughout our business, as well as investing in additional and quantifiable natural climate solutions to remove carbon and tackle climate change. We look forward to continuing to work across sectors with BASCS to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.” – Kara Hurst, Vice President, Worldwide Sustainability
BSR “In this Decisive Decade, we need urgent climate action to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and achieve an inclusive net zero economy. BSR is proud to serve as the secretariat for the Business Alliance to Scale Climate Solutions, advising the initiative in its effort to unlock finance for much needed climate solutions. We believe collaborations such as BASCS are key to transforming climate ambition into meaningful action and scaling impact.” – Aron Cramer, President and CEO
Disney “The Walt Disney Company is committed to protecting the planet and delivering a positive environmental legacy for future generations as we operate and grow our business. Transitioning to a low carbon economy demands fundamental changes in the way society, including the private sector, operates and innovates. Collaborating with other members of BASCS will create opportunity to scale high quality climate solutions necessary to drive a more sustainable future.” – Vijay Sudan, Executive Director, Enterprise Social Responsibility, The Walt Disney Company
EDF “The time is now for companies to take bold action on climate change. We have 10 years to dramatically reduce emissions and there is no way we can achieve a stable climate without stopping deforestation. The Business Alliance to Scale Climate Solutions can help close the climate funding gap and speed resources to protect what is most valuable. It is the kind of visionary leadership and action we need from the world’s biggest and most influential companies.” – Elizabeth Sturcken, Managing Director, EDF+Business
Google “At Google, we were the first major company to become carbon neutral in 2007 and we’ve met this commitment for over a decade. We look forward to working with the BASCS to share our learnings and accelerate our collective work to decarbonize.” – Kate Brandt, Google Sustainability Officer
Microsoft “The climate crisis is the defining challenge of our lifetimes. If we are to achieve a 1.5-degree Celsius future, we will all need to work together. Today, we are joining the Business Alliance to Scale Climate Solutions, working with other members to accelerate the maturation and scale of a range of climate solutions.” – Elizabeth Willmott, Carbon Program Manager, Microsoft.
Netflix “Netflix has committed to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2022. We will get there by reducing our internal emissions in line with climate science and by investing in the power of nature to retain and reduce emissions from the atmosphere, starting with natural ecosystems like forests above-and-below water. Scaling up the highest quality projects to “retain” and “reduce” emissions is best done collaboratively, which is why we look forward to this timely collective effort taking flight.” – Emma Stewart, Netflix Sustainability Officer
Salesforce “The time for climate action is now. Every business, government and individual must step up to the urgent challenge of climate change and to create an inclusive and sustainable future for all. At Salesforce we believe that business can be one of the greatest platforms for change. That is why we are proud to be a founding member of BASCS, an initiative to rapidly scale and improve climate solutions funding from businesses.” – Patrick Flynn, Head of Sustainability at Salesforce
UNEP “Drastically reducing deforestation and simultaneously restoring forests is the single largest nature-based opportunity for climate mitigation. UNEP is therefore proud to be a co-founder of the Business Alliance to Scale Climate Solutions, supporting the private sector’s climate ambitions for deep cuts in their own emissions – working towards high-integrity outcomes for carbon neutrality by 2050 or sooner.” – Susan Gardner, Director of the Ecosystems Division
Workday “We are committed to a 1.5 degrees Celsius science-based target, but we know there is still much more work to be done, and one of the most powerful ways we can accelerate climate action is by coming together with other organizations. This alliance is an opportunity to collaborate with others who share our vision to increase the scale and impact of climate solutions funding, so we can achieve a zero-carbon future.” – Erik Hansen, Senior Director, Environmental Sustainability, Workday
WWF “To tackle the climate crisis, we need to act immediately to drive climate emissions down. BASCS highlights that business must set science-based targets for their own emissions while bringing the investment in solutions to scale. WWF is excited to help found this clearing house for collaborative learning and support companies to make impactful investments to tackle the climate crisis.” – Marcene Mitchell, Senior Vice President for Climate Change
Unilever has announced it is to invest €1bn in measures that could allow it to eliminate fossil fuels from its cleaning and laundry products by the end of the decade, an intervention it claims is critical if it is to deliver on its goal of reaching net zero emissions from its products by 2039.
The company intends to transition the products across its cleaning brands – which include Persil, Sunlight, Domestos and Cif – away from chemicals made from fossil fuel feedstocks and replace them with renewable or recycled sources of carbon, such as carbon captured using carbon capture utilisation technology or recovered from waste materials.
Unilever said the €1bn of funding will specifically finance biotechnology research, CO2 utilisation technologies, low carbon chemistry research, and biodegradable and water-efficient product formulations, while also helping the firm halve its use of virgin plastic by 2025.
In addition, the funding will support the development of brand communications that explain the various technologies to customers.
Peter ter Kulve, Unilever’s president of home care, predicted the newly launched ‘Clean Future programme’ would help “radically overhaul” the business. “As an industry, we must break our dependence on fossil fuels, including as a raw material for our products,” he said. “We must stop pumping carbon from under the ground when there is ample carbon on and above the ground if we can learn to utilise it at scale.”
The chemicals in Unilever’s cleaning and laundry products make up the greatest proportion of the company’s carbon footprint, accounting for roughly 46 per cent of its emissions. The firm expects its new programme to reduce the carbon footprint of its product formulations by a fifth.
The Anglo-Dutch company confirmed that work is already underway to wean its products off fossil fuel derived carbon across various global locations. For example, in Slovakia the company is working with biotechnology company Evonik Industries to develop the production of rhamnolipids, a renewable and biodegradable surfactant used in its Sunlight dishwashing liquid in Chile and Vietnam. Meanwhile, in Southern India Unilever is sourcing soda ash – an ingredient in laundry powders – from CO2 capture technology. The company intends to scale up both initiatives in the coming years.
Similarly, liquid detergent made by Persil – one of Unilever’s largest and most popular brands in the UK – has been reformulated to rely on plant-based stain removers. The new line is to be sold in British supermarkets from later this month.
And in order to demystify the different production processes to its consumers, competitors, and partners, Unilever has today published a ‘carbon rainbow’ model geared at outlining the range of alternatives to fossil fuel derived carbon. Non-renewable, fossil-based sources of carbon are labelled on the Carbon Rainbow as ‘black carbon’, while captured CO2 is referred to as ‘purple carbon’, plants and biological sources are branded ‘green carbon’, marine sources such as algae are labelled ‘blue carbon’, and carbon recovered from waste materials is described as ‘grey carbon’.
Ter Kulve urged other businesses to adopt the ‘carbon rainbow’ system. “Diversifying sources of carbon is essential to grow within the limits of our planet,” he said. “Our suppliers and innovation partners play a critical role through this transition. By sharing our Carbon Rainbow model, we are calling on an economy-wide transformation in how we all use carbon”.
The investment announced today comes just months after the company announced it would spend €1bn on a range of nature-based initiatives in support of its over-arching net zero emission goal, including reforestation, water preservation and biodiversity, through a Climate and Nature Fund.
