A vital part of our sustainability effort is finding other uses
for product packaging and waste.
Sustainability 2015 Goal: zero manufacturing
waste to landfills.
Most of the waste sent to landfill is residual short fiber or
sludge from our wastewater treatment plants. We're exploring
potential opportunities for recycling sludge such as selling it as
fuel for waste-to-energy projects, or for use in cement
manufacturing, mine reclamation and agriculture. We also seek
alternatives to landfill for boiler ash.
Due to their ongoing efforts, several
Kimberly-Clark facilities already are diverting 100 percent of
their sludge from landfills.
- After approval from the Malaysian government in November 2010,
our Kluang facility now supplies sludge to a local cement plant and
expects to divert 13,500 metric tons of sludge from landfills in
2011.
- The Kimberly-Clark Family Care facility in Jenks, Oklahoma,
U.S., has formed partnerships with a waste-to-energy plant and
newspaper recycling company, which together accept all of the
sludge generated by that mill.
Our new diaper facility in Stupino, Russia, is sending some of its
waste diapers to our mill in Barton, United Kingdom, to be used in
manufacturing other diapers. The remaining waste diapers are
shredded on site and sent to a local recycler for use at a cement
manufacturer. This local recycling reduces the waste transportation
carbon footprint and allows waste-to-energy conversion.
Almost half of all Kimberly-Clark manufacturing facilities - 48
out of 104 locations - now send zero manufacturing waste to
landfills.
Learn more about how
Kimberly-Clark mills and operations are reducing waste.
