Kimberly-Clark wins major packaging awards

14 September 2007

Kimberly-Clark has won two pre-eminent national awards for packaging excellence and sustainable working practices at this year’s Packaging Evolution Awards, beating the likes of Coke, IBM, and Goodman Fielder.

Kimberly-Clark took the prize for ‘Personal Care and Cosmetics Packaging’ and then went on to scoop the ‘Best in Show’ award, distinguishing Kimberly-Clark among all finalists in all categories as having “achieved the most significant results when reporting against its National Packaging Covenant Action Plan.”

Finalist companies included Coca-Cola, Amcor, IBM, Golden Circle, Goodman-Fielder, Dulux, BP and Telstra in various packaged goods categories.

The Packaging Evolution Awards are run by Packaging Magazine and supported by the National Packaging Covenant (NPC) Council. Finalists are selected based on “demonstrated commitment to the NPC and implementation of waste management strategies”.

Since becoming a signatory of the NPC in 1999, Kimberly-Clark has set annual objectives to reduce packaging material weight and increase the recycled content of packaging.

The Packaging Evolution Awards program highlighted that Kimberly-Clark “has a target of ‘no solid waste to landfill’ from its six manufacturing sites. As a result, 95% of waste has been diverted from landfill.”

Kimberly-Clark’s entry focussed on our Kleenex^® facial product, and the packaging reduction and recycling program for carton tissues. Achievements included reusing shippers up to five times, reducing carton packaging waste at mills by 50%, and reducing carton board weight by 28% between 2000 and 2005. 92% of all carton board being used is now 100% recycled fibre content. At the same time, facial line speed has increased at Millicent Mill by 50%.

The entry also cited the Ingleburn Infant Care Mill where the weight of its Huggies^® nappy bags has been reduced by approximately 20%, and 89% of its packaging is made with recycled materials, representing 10,863 tonnes of packaging being recycled.

These awards especially recognise a great deal of effort by the Kimberly-Clark Packaging team, the mills, and our environment personnel to improve the sustainability and the environmental footprint of our operations.