Page 319 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

Consumer Pr oducts Industries 295

Many of the practices described in the previous chapters on elec-
tronic, automotive, chemical, pharmaceutical, and food and beverage
products are also relevant to consumer products.

Kimberly-Clark: Getting Serious about DFE
Applying DFE to Product Development
Kimberly-Clark Corporation (K-C) is headquartered in Dallas, Texas
and employs 53,000 people in 35 countries worldwide. The company’s
well-known family care and personal care brands include Kleenex,
Scott, Huggies, Pull-Ups, and Kotex. K-C has embraced sustainability
principles in both product development and manufacturing opera-
tions, and has invested considerable effort in reducing the environ-
mental footprint of its products. In 2008, for the fourth consecutive
year, K-C was ranked highest in the personal products category of the
Dow Jones Sustainability World Index [1].
K-C established a Design for Environment (DFE) initiative in 2007
with the aim of designing products and packaging with more environ-
mentally friendly contents and minimal packaging. This corporate
initiative seeks to apply sound environmental design prin ciples in
developing processes, products, and packaging. The DFE program
was established as part of Vision 2010, a set of overarching, global
environmental goals that address key metrics, such as water use re -
duction, wastewater quality, energy use, greenhouse gas reduction,
manufacturing waste reduction, and elimination of landfill waste.
These goals flow down to the facility level, where targets are estab-
lished for each production line.
Led by David Spitzley, Product Sustainability Manager, the DFE
team works closely with each of K-C’s business sectors to
1. Identify opportunities to improve product design and
material sourcing decisions
2. Offer guidance in the environmentally responsible use of
virgin and recycled materials
3. Develop environmentally preferred alternative packaging
solutions.
In the U.K., K-C launched its first Forest Stewardship Council
(FSC) labeled product under the Kleenex brand in 2008. K-C is also
working with the Carbon Trust to develop an industry-wide draft
methodology for measuring carbon footprints more accurately and
consistently. In the United States, K-C Professional offers Kleenex
Naturals facial tissue to its customers, and K-C’s Scott brand offers
Scott Naturals bathroom tissue and paper towels to consumers (see
Figure 16.1). All of these innovative products contain a mix of high-
quality, post-consumer, recycled fiber and virgin fiber.