Catching up with Len Sauers, Vice President, Global Sustainability, The Procter & Gamble Company

CGT Executive Editor Kara Romanow talks with Dr. Len Sauers of The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), who shares how manufacturers and retailers can enable consumers to make environmentally sustainable choices without compromising performance or price. Plus, he reveals tips for incorporating sustainability into company business practices and decisions.


What keeps you up at night?

Sauers: Questions are raised about whether recent issues with the economy will decrease consumer interest in the latest environmental trends. I believe tough economic times make a sustainability mindset even more important. My team is working with P&G's business unit leaders to show them that sustainability is not a fad or another issue to address, but a new lens with which to view the business. One smart way to approach sustainability is to focus on doing more with less. Driving eco-efficiency into operations will always deliver a win to the bottom line. Consumers, now more than ever, need good value in the products they buy. They should not be asked to accept trade-offs in performance or price to do "good" for the environment. Recent consumer data supports this idea. Our business unit leaders get it and are integrating sustainability into their strategies. Tide Coldwater is a great example of a product that delivers this in several ways. It is a laundry detergent that provides consumers the same cleaning performance in cold water that they see in hot/warm water. Switching to cold water washing is great for environmental sustainability. If everyone in the United States  switched to cold water, we would save up to 90 billion kilowatt hours of energy. That equates to preventing the release of up to 34 million tons of carbon dioxide. In addition, consumers win by saving money on their energy bill.


How can manufacturers and retailers better collaborate?

Sauers: Manufacturers such as P&G and their retail partners share a common goal to win with the consumer. We can work together to achieve this goal in several ways, all of which lead to wins for us, for the retailer, for the consumer and for the environment. One way is to deliver products to consumers that enable them to be environmentally sustainable while also getting the performance they expect at a price they need. Consumers shouldn't have to choose between these attributes. An example of this is the recent leadership by Wal-Mart in calling for compaction across the entire category of liquid laundry detergents. For us, this one move saved more than 500 million liters of water per year, eliminated 15,000 metric tons of packaging per year, caused environmental improvements across the entire supply chain and provided consumers with a product that better delighted them. Retailers and manufacturers can also work together on consumer education. Our data also tells us that the consumer is confused when it comes to sustainability. There are many dubious claims being made, and they do not know who to trust for the right information on the environmental profile of products. Manufacturers and retailers have a mutual obligation to ensure this "greenwashing" is avoided.


What will it take for companies to commit to sustainability?

Sauers: To truly deliver breakthrough innovation in sustainability, there has to be a connection to the business. Even though P&G has a long history of sustainability practices, we made a step-change in our commitment last year. The first thing we did was to embed sustainability into our company's Purpose, Values and Principles (PVP). This is significant since our PVPs guide all business practices and decisions at the company. We also publicly developed a renewed sustainability strategy and communicated new five-year goals. Every business unit, region and function in the company was charged with designating a senior leader to be accountable for that organization's sustainability program. Each must deliver an action plan against the company's strategies and goals. Progress has been excellent since these actions put sustainability into the rhythm of the business. Integrations like this are what makes sustainability sustainable, now and for generations to come.


What will it take to deliver disruptive sustainability innovation in consumer goods?

Sauers: At P&G, we have made good progress in delivering more sustainable products to the consumer. We put clear meaning to this a year ago, defining "sustainable innovation products" as those that deliver greater than 10 percent reduction in the environmental footprint versus previous or alternative products. In the first year since this declaration, we delivered seven such innovations in the P&G global portfolio. We are taking many approaches such as replacing existing materials with renewables, redesigning packaging, rethinking product formulations, etc. We have a pipeline of such innovations going into the future. However, to achieve a disruptive innovation, we have to re-invent what we do. This may be where our "Connect & Develop" approach to external research and development partnerships plays a significant role. Innovation is the lifeblood at P&G. It will be the key to success and we can make a difference as we have the scale, global reach, R&D investment, individual talents and an ability to enable more than three billion people to act sustainably through the use of our products.