Putting the chemicals industry on a pathway to net zero | Unilever

Oct 14, 2024

Chemicals are vital to our business. As the key to removing dirt and stains, they’re critical to the superior cleaning performance of our products but chemicals also account for around 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Lowering the emissions linked to the chemicals we buy is a key part of our Climate Transition Action Plan (PDF 7.98 MB) and reaching our total Unilever target of 42% absolute reduction in Scope 3 energy and industrial emissions by 2030 from a 2021 baseline. And it is vital for progressing towards our Net Zero by 2039 ambition. This is why we’re working closely with suppliers, reformulating some of our products, and pushing for the chemicals industry to transform.

Most greenhouse gases from the chemical value chain are released at two points: the manufacturing process and during degradation of petrochemicals at the end of life.

To reduce manufacturing emissions, the chemicals industry must shift towards renewable energy and electrification. But the real challenge lies with the fossil-fuel- based petrochemicals that most chemicals are made from. Just as burning petrol in a car engine releases greenhouse gases, the chemicals used in cleaning products release carbon when they go down the drain and degrade.

These emissions can only be reduced by switching to chemicals made from renewable and recycled raw materials, instead of petrochemicals. While greenhouse gases are still released when renewable ingredients degrade, they go back to where they came from in the first place – the atmosphere – making the process circular.

The shift to lower-emission chemicals is not without its barriers. The two main ones are cost, and the land needed to grow renewable carbon raw materials.

Due to the chemical industry’s efficiency and scale, it’s still far more cost-effective to make chemicals from fossil-fuel-based raw materials, such as oil, than from renewable sources such as plants. It will take significant capital investment to start manufacturing renewable chemicals cost-effectively.

And in many parts of the world, because consumers cannot pay more for their household products the costs of lower-emission chemicals must come down. We’ve seen this happen in other sectors, where innovation and policy have led to increased availability, better performance, and reduced costs.

Renewable carbon raw materials commonly come from agriculture. While they are a good opportunity to reduce emissions, the land used to grow them must be managed responsibly. Captured carbon from the burning of bio-based fuels or air capture can also be used as an alternative raw material for lower-emission chemicals.

While there has been some industry movement towards lower-emission chemicals, progress has not been fast enough. Despite being a large global company, Unilever is a relatively small player in the chemical industry. We can’t achieve our climate ambitions on our own. So, we’re working with a broad range of stakeholders – including policymakers, NGOs, industry, academics, and trade associations – to drive a faster transition.

The chemical sector supply chain also contains many interdependencies. So, any approach must consider the entire chemicals industry from aviation fuel to industries like ours. Innovation, investment, and delivery at scale takes time – and we need government action sooner rather than later.

Unilever is pushing for countries to put in place policies that will support the infrastructure needed for non-fossil-fuel-based chemical raw materials at a competitive price. This will involve integrated national policies that work together to deliver industry transformation. These policies should support:

These kinds of policies are explained in detail in the 2023 report we published at Climate Week NYC in partnership with the University of Oxford (PDF 2.57 MB) (86-page PDF). This report identifies the actions needed to address the carbon emissions of everyday cleaning, laundry, and home care products. You can read more about the report here.

Guided by our Climate Transition Action Plan (CTAP), we’re also taking action in our own value chain.

Our Supplier Climate Programme is designed to accelerate the transition of key suppliers to a position of climate leadership. Leadership in this area means suppliers setting their own science-based greenhouse gas reduction targets, publicly reporting progress, and being able to give us a Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) for the materials we buy.

Around 40 of our largest Home Care suppliers are now in this programme and building their climate capabilities to be able to deliver on these asks.

Our CTAP explains more about our Supplier Climate Programme (PDF 7.98 MB).

We’re using our position to bring stakeholders - including policymakers, NGOs, industry, academics, and trade associations - together. Because the industry is complex and broken up, collaboration is needed to drive the structural and global changes to the global chemical sector.

Working with partners in the chemical industry is also a critical part of reducing our emissions. We’re partnering with specialists to develop innovative ingredients such as new proteins and enzymes, palm oil alternatives, biodegradable surfactants, and waste carbon. Read more about these partnerships and the innovations they’re creating.

Reformulating our products is one of the biggest ways we can reduce emissions from our Home Care business group, and across Unilever. Crucially, we’re doing this without compromising on product performance or consumer experience.

One approach is by using our ingredients more effectively. This involves reformulating some of our products, like laundry liquids and fabric conditioners, to use less of the most carbon-intensive ingredients. We’re also rethinking some of our packaging formats to create more compact products that reach customers in smaller, lighter or dilutable formats – such as Dilute at Home in Brazil.

Our CTAP explains our key actions for reformulating our Home Care products (PDF 7.98 MB).