While most cleaning and laundry products are made using a non-renewable source of carbon, Unilever plans to start using renewable or recycled carbon in their formulas.
Unilever’s goal is by 2030, to have replaced 100% of fossil fuel derived from carbon with renewable or recycled carbon. It plans to use captured CO2, plants and biological sources, and carbon recovered from waste materials instead.
“The world must shift away from fossil fuels towards renewable resources that reduce pressure on our fragile ecosystems and that help to restore nature,” said Tanya Steele, chief executive of WWF U.K.
This change comes from its “Clean Future” initiative which plans on changing how cleaning and laundry products are created, manufactured and packaged to reduce its carbon footprint.
Unilever is setting aside €1 billion for this initiative which will finance research and help create biodegradable and efficient formulas. This will assist the switch to non fossil derived chemicals and cut the use of virgin plastic in half.
“We cannot let ourselves become distracted from the environmental crises that our world—our home—is facing. Pollution. Destruction of natural habitats. The climate emergency. This is the home we share, and we have a responsibility to protect it,” said Peter ter Kulve, Unilever’s president of home care.
