Distribution measures to reduce carbon emissions

A Kimberly-Clark Professional product story

Edited by the Manufacturingtalk editorial team Oct 21, 2009

Kimberly-Clark Professional, a supplier of washroom products to the manufacturing sector, has introduced a range of environmentally friendly measures targeting the distribution chain.

The company has introduced a number of improvements to packaging and distribution efficiencies, which will result in reductions in transportation-related carbon emissions.

In the UK, Kimberly-Clark Professional has improved efficiency and minimised its environmental impact by reducing the occasions where trucks are running empty.

The company has introduced an integrated transport solution in which the same trucks are used for outbound customer deliveries as well as inbound logistics back to mills, such as pallets, waste paper and supplies.

In 2008, this helped cut empty running down to 24 per cent.

As part of its resource reduction effort, the Kimberly-Clark Professional facility in Koblenz, Germany, recently invested USD330,000 (GBP202,000) to reconstruct the railway connection from its main regional distribution centre.

The mill produces 53,000 metric tons of products per year, including bath tissue for hotels and restaurants and specialised wiper products for the manufacturing industry.

In total, delivering these goods by rail will save more than 2,500 truck deliveries each year, reducing carbon emissions.

Alongside this initiative, the company claims that it is maximising every square inch of loading space when its vehicles hit the road using packaging and palletisation techniques.

This helps to cut carbon emissions and can facilitate handling and storage.

Kimberly-Clark Professional's Scott Slimfold Hand Towels, for example, take up 50 per cent less space than similar products, while still offering 100 per cent of the performance.

The same is true of Scott Rolled Hand Towels and Kleenguard Gloves.

Both of these products require half of the transport space required by similar products on the market.

'With the focus on resource reduction, these initiatives are at the heart of our "Reduce Today, Respect Tomorrow" sustainability programme,' said Lisa Morden, head of global sustainability at the company.