GOJO Powers Manufacturing Operations with Renewable Energy Ahead of Schedule

Sustainability report covers how company met ambitious goal two years before goal deadline

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Jul 17, 2019, 09:37 ET

AKRON, Ohio, July 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- GOJO, the inventor of PURELL® Hand Sanitizer and a global leader in skin health and hygiene solutions, has published its seventh annual sustainability report, "Changing How the World Stays Well." The report highlights the company's progress throughout 2017 and 2018 against its 2020 Sustainable Value Strategies and Goals, which focus on creating social, environmental and economic value for its stakeholders, and also aligns with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. The report follows the Global Reporting Initiative's Sustainability Reporting Standards.

Our Purpose drives us to create sustainable value through innovative solutions that bring social, environmental and economic growth. Read more about the progress we've made and challenges we've faced at GOJO.com/Sustainability.

In 2018, GOJO completed the installation of a 755-megawatt-hour solar array at its 1.3-million-square-foot distribution center in Wooster, Ohio.

GOJO performance summary of the company’s progress throughout 2017 and 2018 against its 2020 Sustainable Value Strategies and Goals, which focus on creating social, environmental and economic value for its stakeholders

"In 1946, Goldie and Jerry Lippman founded GOJO on the need to find to a safer way for Goldie, my great aunt, and her rubber factory co-workers to clean their hands," said Marcella Kanfer Rolnick, GOJO Executive Chair. "Their innovative spirit and passion for helping others inspires us still, 73 years later, to innovate solutions for a better world. I am proud to share, through this report, how our team has driven sustainability into the ways we work every day in pursuit of our GOJO Purpose, Saving Lives and Making Life Better through Well-Being Solutions."

Highlights from the report include achieving the company's goal to power GOJO U.S. distribution operations by renewable energy two years ahead of schedule. In 2018, GOJO completed the installation of a 755-megawatt-hour solar array at its 1.3-million-square-foot distribution center in Wooster, Ohio. The solar array is providing energy without producing harmful air and water emissions or consuming non-renewable natural resources.

As part of the company's efforts to improve energy efficiency, GOJO is recovering waste heat from air compressors, better insulating their facilities, and, in 2017, replaced nearly 20,000 fluorescent lamps with LED bulbs, saving 1.8 million kilowatt-hours per year.

The report also covers the sustainable innovation in product development, including the:

Launch of PURELL® brand HEALTHY SOAP® with CLEAN RELEASE™ Technology, a breakthrough hand soap that is gentle on skin, contains no antibacterial ingredients,¹ preservatives, parabens or phthalates and reaches into skin's cracks and crevices two times better than regular soap to lift and wash away more than 99 percent of dirt and germs.² CLEAN RELEASE™ Technology soaps are made with natural ingredients, far exceeding the 65 percent USDA BioPreferred® Program requirements with 90 percent biobased content.³ They also rinse faster and cleaner to save an estimated six gallons per refill compared to regular soap.⁴
Reformulation of the top-selling GOJO® MULTI GREEN® into a green-certified heavy-duty hand cleaner, GOJO® MULTI GREEN® ECO. The product now not only uses sustainable scrubbing particles to remove dirt but also meets the USDA BioPreferred® Program and ECOLOGO certification requirements.
Invention of the touch-free PURELL® ES8 Dispensing Systems that address the two most common service issues – worn out batteries and empty dispensers – and also represents a 68 percent reduction in battery waste and a 15 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions,⁵ when compared to leading touch-free systems on the market.⁶

View the 2017-2018 GOJO Sustainability Report at GOJO.com/sustainability. Watch a video about the GOJO commitment to sustainability.

About GOJO
The GOJO Purpose of Saving Lives and Making Life Better Through Well-being Solutions drives every decision our Family Enterprise makes, from the products we create to the ways we work. As the inventors of PURELL® Hand Sanitizer, GOJO has changed how the world stays well for more than 70 years. We use the best science available to develop well-being solutions for skin and the surfaces people touch – solutions that result in healthier people and a healthy environment at home and away-from-home. Learn more about our sustainability goals at GOJO.com.

Does not contain an antimicrobial soap active ingredient.
Bioscience Laboratories, Inc., Bozeman, MT, Study # 170398-101, Health Care Personnel Handwash, July 5, 2017; Augustine Scientific, Newbury OH, Ex Vivo Soil Removal Analysis, August 5, 2017; Augustine Scientific, Newbury, OH, CRT Surface and Interfacial Rheology Analysis, June 30, 2017. Reference to "regular soap" refers to our top selling non-antibacterial soap.
GOJO Industries, Inc., 2017-07-I10599 PURELL Healthy Soap CRT Rinse and Sustainability Study, 19 July 2017
GOJO Industries, Inc., 2017-07-I10599 PURELL Healthy Soap CRT Rinse and Sustainability Study, 19 July 2017
Based on a 1200mL refill with an assumed usage rate of 3 refills per dispenser per year and a 6-year dispenser lifetime.
2017 Healthcare Sanitizer Market Sales provided by Definitive Healthcare, LLC.