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Kimberly-Clark and the Environment

Environmental Protection and Concern

  • To conduct all of its affairs with a sincere, balanced and proper regard for the environment.
  • To create throughout the company a proper environmental ethic which is and always will be a part of our culture.

Protection of the Biosphere

To ensure that adequate environmental assessment measures and control procedures are maintained and followed in product and process design and in ongoing operations by:

  • Developing and adhering to environmental plans which considers the total product life cycle from design to manufacture, use and disposal.
  • Ensuring adherence to all applicable environmental legal requirements.
  • Periodically auditing environmental performance at all locations.

Sustainable Use of Natural Resources

To recognise the need to sustain natural resources, including fibre and all other materials used in corporate methods by:

  • Following sustained yield forestry practices on all corporate timberlands.
  • Using high-yield virgin pulps as well as recycled fibre in products and packaging consistent with product performance and customer requirements.
  • Encouraging vendors to follow responsible environmental practices and considering such practices in the vendor selection process.

Use and Conservation of Energy

To efficiently use energy and actively pursue energy conservation by:

  • Establishing ongoing energy conservation programmes at all locations.
  • Using renewable forms of energy where feasible and cost effective.
  • Conducting periodic audits of all major steam plants, recovery boilers and other energy systems.
  • Encouraging fuel suppliers and utilities to follow environmentally responsible operating practices.

Reduction and Disposal of Waste

To design products and processes to reduce the volume and weight of materials utilised.

To minimise the disposal of product and manufacturing wastes

In both cases, by supporting an integrated approach to solid waste management, including:

  • Source reduction
  • Recycling
  • Waste-to-Energy systems
  • The conservative use of land-filling

Office Waste Paper Collection Scheme - PAPERSAVER

The world demand for paper, coupled with the variability in supply of paper pulp and quality waste paper, has meant significant increase in the cost of raw materials for paper and tissue product producers such as Kimberly-Clark over recent years.

Kimberly-Clark is increasingly using recycled fibre rather than virgin pulp for the production of its paper products. Our Delyn and Coleshill mills, where Hand Towels and Bulk Pack Toilet Tissue are produced, process 100% recycled material.

However, the vast majority of the 250,000 plus tonnes of waste paper required by Kimberly-Clark each year to satisfy the demands of its recycling facilities and paper mills, is provided by selected reputable waste paper merchants.

With the continuing uncertainty in the waste paper market, Kimberly-Clark is having to become increasingly resourceful about how it obtains the volume of quality waste paper it requires to satisfy the enormous demand.

Only certain grades of waste paper are suitable for recycling into Bulk Pack Toilet Tissue because of the high level of softness and brightness required. An obvious source for supply of this quality of waste paper is from the office environment, though supply is very limited at present. For this reason, Kimberly-Clark has introduced its own office waste paper recycling scheme.

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