Reckitt Benckiser Joins The Sustainability Consortium

TEMPE, Ariz., Sept. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Reckitt Benckiser (RB), a global consumer goods leader in health, hygiene and home, announced today its membership in The Sustainability Consortium (TSC), an independent global organization that creates sustainability standards for consumer products. The Consortium is made up of over 90 members including Walmart, Best Buy, McDonalds, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Disney.

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RB joins TSC as a member of the Home and Personal Care and Food Beverage and Agriculture sectors.  "We are delighted RB has joined The Sustainability Consortium and look forward to working with them and our other members on sustainability indicators," said Sarah Lewis, Food, Beverage and Agriculture Working Group Director.  "RB shares The Sustainability Consortium's full lifecycle approach and ambitious goals for more sustainable products."

"Successful collaboration between retailers, suppliers and producers will enable more transformational change on sustainability," said Frederic Larmuseau, President, RB North America.  "We look forward to sharing our knowledge with the ultimate goals of establishing a robust dialogue with our retailers and providing consumers with more sustainable choices."

"We are excited to be joining other leading companies in the Sustainability Consortium.  I look forward to sharing the valuable expertise gained through our lifecycle Carbon20 program and learning from other members' experiences," said Dave Challis, Sustainability Director at RB.  "A lifecycle approach helps us to make balanced decisions about products' sustainability.  It underpins better design, improves supplier impacts and communication with consumers and is essential to make the most progress with products from start to finish."

Earlier this year RB announced they had hit their Carbon20 target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% eight years early.  This performance is based on reducing emissions throughout a RB product's lifecycle, from raw material sourcing to disposal, and is equivalent to taking 3 million cars off the road.  RB was also recently named to the 2012 Carbon Disclosure Project's Global 500 Carbon Performance Leadership Index.

Other recent achievements highlighted in RB's most recent Sustainability report include:

• 16% reduction in fresh water usage (per unit of production) versus 2000
• 5.4 million trees planted since 2006 as part of Trees For Change®, effectively making RB's manufacturing sites carbon neutral
• 23% reduction in accident rate versus 2010 (92% reduction versus 2001)
• 775,000 children reached with Save The Children since 2003 (175,000 in 2011)

About Reckitt Benckiser

RB is a global consumer goods leader in health, hygiene and home.

With a purpose of delivering innovative solutions for healthier lives and happier homes, RB is in the top 25 of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Since 2000 net revenues have doubled and the market cap has quadrupled.  Today it is the global No 1 or No 2 in the majority of its fast-growing categories, driven by an exceptional rate of innovation. It's health, hygiene and home portfolio is led by 19 global powerbrands including Nurofen®, Strepsils®, Gaviscon®, Mucinex®, Durex®, Scholl®, Lysol®, Dettol®, Clearasil®, Veet®, Harpic®, Bang®, Mortein®, Finish®, Vanish®, Woolite®, Calgon®, Air Wick®, and French's®, and they account for 70% of  net revenue. 

RB people are at the heart of the company's success.  They have an intense drive for action and a desire to outperform wherever they focus, including in CSR where the company has achieved its goal of reducing its Carbon footprint by 20% and has a global partnership with Save the Children.  The company has operations in over 60 countries, sales in almost 200 countries and employs about 38,000 people worldwide.  For more information visit www.rb.com. 

About The Sustainability Consortium

The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) is an independent organization of diverse global participants that work collaboratively to build a scientific foundation that drives innovation to improve consumer product sustainability. TSC develops transparent methodologies, tools, and strategies to drive a new generation of products and supply networks that address environmental, social, and economic imperatives. The Sustainability Consortium advocates for a credible, scalable, and transparent process and system. The organization boasts over 90 members from all corners of business employing over 57 million people and whose combined revenues total over $1.5 Trillion. Arizona State University and the University of Arkansas jointly administer The Sustainability Consortium, with additional operations at Wageningen University in The Netherlands. Learn more at www.sustainabilityconsortium.org

Contact:

Dean Mastrojohn
Communications Director, North America
973-404-2494
[email protected]

SOURCE Reckitt Benckiser