J&J's Sustainability Sense: Eco-Rating Ingredients, Adding Green Packaging

Johnson & Johnson's sustainability plan for its consumer products business includes reducing the environmental impact of product formulations and packaging.

In the "Sustainability Report 2008" recently posted on its Web site, J&J summarizes its progress through December 2008 using fewer resources without compromising product quality.

In its 12th year of publishing the ¹ report, J&J notes it began compiling the data at the request of stakeholders pushing for more transparency in how the company works to meet its social responsibilities in the area of sustainability.

"With this report, and with accompanying information that will be placed on our Web sites, we are embarking on a path of providing more information" to them, CEO William Weldon says in an opening statement.

J&J recognizes the success of its business depends partly on being "attuned" to society's expectations regarding its impact on the environment and its regulatory compliance as well as its role in facilitating consumers' access to medications.

Among the most significant initiatives in the consumer segment is the development of a proprietary screening process that applies scores to product ingredients based on their eco-friendliness.

"This innovative tool allows our formulators to compare ingredients for downstream environmental impact and provide suggestions for alternatives," according to J&J. "To date, we have scored 70 percent of the chemicals used worldwide in the Consumer Group."

J&J also is looking to reuse waste solvent at the manufacturing level. For example, ethanol-containing rinse previously captured from Listerine mouthwash plants and disposed of as hazardous waste is now reconditioned and turned into energy for manufacturing purposes.

Packaging: Less Is More

Packaging is another major area of concern considering that "hundreds of millions" of people use J&J consumer products every day, the firm says.

J&J VP of Global Strategic Design Operations Mike Maggio notes that sustainability in packaging is a continually evolving strategy that "aims to reduce packaging weight and the energy used to make and transport packaging, as well as increase the portion of post-consumer recycled materials and sustainable or biodegradable materials that we use."

For consumer product packaging, the company established minimum PCR-content requirements that it aims to meet by 2010. Though the firm successfully reduced packaging for many products, it still faces challenges for others.

For example, last year J&J set out to incorporate more recycled material - 30 percent PCR high-density polyethylene material - into its iconic pink Johnson's Baby lotion bottle. However, the firm determined it needs more time to solve quality issues.

Maggio and his team are exploring biodegradable and refillable packaging, concepts relatively new to the consumer products industry.

Biodegradable packaging mostly is used in the food and beverage industries, where its design is compatible with the short shelf life of products and their "well-defined" distribution channels, J&J says.

"We're not there yet," Maggio says of using biodegradable packaging in consumer products. "But we're considering the kinds of biodegradable materials that are out there and how we might be able to use them."

J&J also is assessing refillable packages, so consumers do not have to purchase additional packaging when they buy new product. That effort most likely will roll out to emerging markets first, where consumers prefer purchasing small packages and are more receptive to the refillable concept.

The company developed a guideline for packaging reusability that it distributed to its consumer products brands, a number of which are exploring the concept, according to J&J.

A move toward green initiatives is increasingly commonplace among large consumer products firms. Procter & Gamble has committed to reducing energy and water consumption, carbon monoxide and solid waste 20 percent by 2012 (² (Also see "Going Green Can Boost Sales And Profits, But Targets Elusive Consumers" - Pink Sheet, 25 May, 2009.)).

- Eileen Francis ( ³ [email protected] )