Sustainability Review 2014: First Commitment For 2020 Has Already Been Fulfilled

Today, Beiersdorf published its Sustainability Review 2014. It contains information on the company’s progress regarding its "We care.“ sustainability strategy in the areas of Products, Planet and People, which was adopted three years ago. "We have cut our CO₂-emissions per product sold by 48% and have, therefore, already exceeded our Planet-commitment for 2020 by 18 percentage points“, says Inken Hollmann-Peters, Vice President Corporate Communications & Sustainability. ”We owe this success to the dedicated engagement of our employees in all of our affiliates worldwide.”

In other areas, the search for more sustainable solutions led to surprising results. In the field of Products, life-cycle analyses (LCA) were conducted in order to investigate a product’s environmental impact - including raw materials, production processes, as well as transport, product application and disposal. In contrast to prior expectations, an analysis of the NIVEA Face Care range revealed that plastic jars appears to be more environmentally friendly than the previously used glass jars. By switching the whole NIVEA Face Care range to plastic jars, the packaging's greenhouse gas potential can be cut by at least 15%. Take a look at the animated video showing Dorle Bahr, Head of Environmental Sustainability & Safety, explaining how the company arrived at this conclusion:

Today, already 12% of annual sales are achieved by products with significantly reduced environmental impact. By 2020, Beiersdorf aims to raise that share by up to 50%.

Another important element of Beiersdorf’s sustainability strategy is the social brand commitment. By maintaining transparent communication and encouraging active consumer involvement our community projects do not only create social value but also strengthen the brand’s positioning – a win-win for both, society and our business.

With ”NIVEA cares for family“ NIVEA puts families at the center of its social commitment. ”Our business is caring for consumers and their families. As a trusted family member all around the world, NIVEA is and always has been part of consumers’ everyday lives. NIVEA’s social commitment to families means we stay authentic and true to our brand”, says Inken Hollmann-Peters. Employees around the world show their support for the brand’s social commitment during the “NIVEA Family Days”. This annual initiative invites employees to set up social activities in order to support families in their local communities.

In the People area, Beiersdorf aims to reach and improve the lives of one million families by 2020. Since 2013, a total of 244,811 families has already been supported sustainably through the global social commitment of the company, its brands and employees.

The Sustainability Review 2014 containing all current figures and additional information on Beiersdorf’s engagement is now available in the sustainability section of our corporate website. The report is supplemented by the separate GRI-Index 2014 and informs about our efforts and achievements in 2014. Beiersdorf follows the latest version of the internationally acknowledged guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).