GOJO Industries has released the details of its sustainability report, showing the company's progress toward social, environmental and economic sustainability initiatives.
The 2012 GOJO Sustainability Report cites advances in social sustainability initiatives, significant reductions toward environmental goals and creation of sustainable value for GOJO and its stakeholders.
“The progress in our social, environmental and economic sustainability measurements is a direct result of the authentic commitment of GOJO employees to our Sustainable Ways of Working (SWOWSM) culture,” says Vice Chair Marcella Kanfer Rolnick. “This commitment brought accelerated momentum this year toward our goals. We found new ways to create social, environmental and economic value, and developed strategies to further integrate sustainability into our business.”
Highlights of the report include:
• Social – GOJO in 2012 generated a 25 percent improvement in hand hygiene delivered in equivalent uses relative to the 2010 per-use rate, promoted public health through products delivered to regions with extreme needs and supported efforts to educate about the risk of infection-causing contamination in refillable bulk soap dispensers. GOJO also built collaborative state-use relationships with dozens of not-for-profit organizations, which have resulted in the employment of hundreds of disabled individuals at these agencies.
• Environmental – GOJO reported a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 2010, a 29 percent reduction in water use over that same time period, and a 13 percent reduction in the generation of solid waste relative to the 2010 per-use rate.
• Economic – GOJO achieved a 52 percent increase in sales from sustainably certified products (as a percentage of the sales revenue mix). The company worked with many collaborative partners to create sustainable value through new practices, products and solutions to create economic value for customers, distributors, vendors, partners, employees and other stakeholders.
Nicole Koharik, GOJO global sustainability marketing director, sayssustainable value is achieved when all three areas – social, environmental and economic are advanced simultaneously.
“The result of our comprehensive sustainability approach is that social, environmental and economic initiatives perform like an ecosystem,” Koharik says. “Each depends on the other two to bring value and balance to our work. Our sustainability progress continues to move us closer to our long-term goal of delivering well-being to one billion people every day.”