Clorox Is No. 7 on Barron's 100 Most Sustainable U.S. Companies List, Ranks No. 1 Among Consumer Packaged Goods

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Feb 19, 2019, 06:30 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) was ranked No. 7 on Barron's 100 Most Sustainable Companies list — the second consecutive year in the top 10 — and the highest-rated company in the consumer packaged goods category.

Based on an assessment of 1,000 of the largest publicly held U.S. companies, the ratings for Barron's 100 Most Sustainable Companies list were calculated by reviewing more than 230 key performance indicators organized into 28 distinct topics in the following stakeholder categories: shareholders, employees, customers, community and the planet.¹

"As a mission-driven company, it's incredibly meaningful to be ranked so highly on Barron's sustainability list," said Clorox Chair and CEO Benno Dorer. "Their criteria are consistent with areas that are strategic for us and aligned with our integrated approach to corporate responsibility, or what we call Good Growth – growth that's profitable, sustainable and responsible."

Clorox's corporate responsibility progress is reflected in the following achievements:

Shareholders

Track record of financial responsibility and strong total shareholder returns, including raising the annual dividend every year since 1977. In its last five fiscal years ending Dec. 31, 2018, Clorox's total shareholder return was 90 percent², compared to 38 percent for its peer group³ and 50 percent for the S&P 500.
Among the first U.S. companies to publish an integrated annual report, demonstrating that corporate responsibility is embedded into Clorox's overall business strategy.

Employees

Best-in-class employee engagement of 88 percent (vs. 81 percent for consumer goods companies and 86 percent for global high-performance companies).
Signatory of CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, pledging a commitment to creating more inclusive workplaces.
Diversity in corporate governance, with 33 percent minority board members (versus 14 percent Fortune 500 average), 33 percent female board members (versus 20 percent Fortune 500 average) and 50 percent women and minority board members (versus 31 percent Fortune 500 average).
Diversity in executive leadership, with women making up 33 percent of the company's executive committee.

Customers (Clorox Consumers)

An emphasis on product quality and safety, consistently ranked among the top in its competitor group in personal care and cleaning products on the American Consumer Satisfaction Index.
First major consumer packaged goods company to voluntarily disclose the ingredients of its cleaning, disinfecting and laundry products in the U.S. and Canada.

Communities

Nearly $20 million contributed to global communities in combined cash grants, product donations, cause marketing and employee volunteerism in the past year.
Long-standing history of supporting global communities in the wake of pandemics and natural disasters, including hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria as well as the California wildfires, with cash aid and donations of Clorox^® bleach and other disinfectants, Brita^® water filters, Glad^®trash bags and Fresh Step^® cat litter, among other products.
Providing bleach to make drinking water safe for up to 4 million people in Kenya and Uganda by 2020. This initiative builds on the Clorox Safe Water Project established in 2012, which provides bleach dispensers to treat drinking water for communities in rural Peru.

Planet

Lower operational footprint since the company's 2011 baseline year, including a 32 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, a 17 percent reduction in energy use, a 22 percent reduction in water consumption and a 33 percent reduction in solid waste to landfill on a per-case-sold basis – in comparison to a 20 percent reduction goal in each area by 2020.
Sustainability improvements to 51 percent of the company's product portfolio since its baseline year of 2011, surpassing the 2020 goal of 50 percent two years early.

"We're proud of our corporate responsibility achievements against our 2020 Strategy commitments," added Dorer. "As we look ahead to our next goal period, we'll continue our commitment to Good Growth, creating long-term value for all our stakeholders by ensuring corporate responsibility continues to be embedded in our business."

The Clorox Company

The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX) is a leading multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products with approximately 8,700 employees worldwide and fiscal year 2018 sales of $6.1 billion. Clorox markets some of the most trusted and recognized consumer brand names, including its namesake bleach and cleaning products; Pine-Sol^® cleaners; Liquid Plumr^® clog removers; Poett^® home care products; Fresh Step^® cat litter; Glad^® bags, wraps and containers; Kingsford^® charcoal; Hidden Valley^® dressings and sauces; Brita^® water-filtration products; Burt's Bees^® natural personal care products; RenewLife^® digestive health products; and Rainbow Light^®, Natural Vitality^® and Neocell^® dietary supplements. The company also markets brands for its industry-leading healthcare and commercial cleaning products under the CloroxPro™ and Clorox Healthcare^® names. More than 80 percent of the company's sales are generated from brands that hold the No. 1 or No. 2 market share positions in their categories.

Clorox is a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact, a community of global leaders committed to sustainability. The company has been broadly recognized for its corporate responsibility efforts, included on CR Magazine's 2018 100 Best Corporate Citizens list, Barron's 2019 100 Most Sustainable Companies list, the Human Rights Campaign's 2018 Corporate Equality Index and the 2019 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, among others. In support of its communities, The Clorox Company and its foundations contributed about $20 million in combined cash grants, product donations and cause marketing in fiscal year 2018. For more information, visit TheCloroxCompany.com, including the Good Growth blog, and follow the company on Twitter at @CloroxCo.

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¹ Calvert Research and Management reviewed data for Barron's 100 Most Sustainable Companies list, organizing the data into 28 topics and five categories: Shareholders: Board Structure, Business Ethics, Financial Responsibility, Executive Compensation, Shareholder/Lender Rights; Employees: Workplace Labor, Workplace Diversity, Workplace Safety; Customers: Data Security, Product Safety, Product Marketing, Product Quality; Community: Human Rights, Community, Food Sourcing and Supply Chain, Animal Welfare, Access to Medicines, Indigenous People's Rights; Planet: Environmental Policies, Reporting & Systems, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Related Policies, Energy (Use, Efficiency, Renewable), Waste management (Recycling, Toxic Reduction/Elimination), Lifestyle Impacts of Products, Environmental Supply Chain Impacts, Biodiversity and Ecosystems Impacts and Resource Efficiency, Water Use/Stress, Emissions and Toxic Reduction and Elimination, Resource Efficiency.

² Clorox's total shareholder return is based on a combination of stock price appreciation and dividend payments.

³ Clorox's peer group is made up of 16 companies, excluding Clorox, for benchmarking purposes: CHD, CL, COTY, CPB, KDP, EL, GIS, HSY, K, KHC, KMB, KO, RB-GB, NWL, PEP, and PG.

SOURCE The Clorox Company