Our Global Environment, Safety, Regulatory and Scientific Affairs function manages all matters relating to the environment, energy, occupational health and safety, product quality and safety, and regulation. It includes a Corporate Sustainability team to identify and share best practices across the company. This comprehensive approach helps sustainability principles permeate our business, from facilities management to product design.

Our Environmentally Sustainable Technologies team partners with our businesses and suppliers to develop sustainable products, technologies and materials. Their work includes research into the use of biodegradable, renewable and recycled polymers in our products. In 2007, the team worked on increasing the use of post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastics in flexible packaging to improve our environmental footprint. See Sustainability and consumer products for examples. They also collaborated with Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club on their sustainable packaging scorecard. The team also helped the trade associations INDA and European Disposables and Nonwovens Association (EDANA) develop “flushability” guidelines for evaluating how well nonwoven fabrics perform in this area.