History has shown it is possible for us to make great advances in the sustainability of P&G products without compromising on the cleaning results they produce.
It isn't an easy process, requiring a significant amount of research and investment, but P&G is committed to continuing with it.
P&G supports the Sustainable Cleaning charter produced by the International Association for Soaps, Detergents and Maintenance Products (AISE), which aims to bring about continual improvement in the industry.
Specifically, the A.I.S.E. Sustainable Cleaning Charter requires companies to have systems in place for continual assessment and review of sustainability performance at every important stage of the product lifecycle, including for example raw material selection, chemical safety, resource use, occupational health and safety and provision of advice to consumers on best and safe use.
P&G supports AISE's view that doing regular assessments and reviews and ensuring proper information handling and training should automatically stimulate and bring about improvement.
In order to demonstrate how the industry is improving, the AISE will report regularly on the sustainability performance of the industry across Europe.
Each year, AISE will provide the public and all interested bodies with a sustainability report based on aggregated data for 10 key performance indicators, grouped according to their economic, environmental or social importance, using data from individual company members of the Charter.
The first report was published in 2006 and provided a set of benchmark figures based on data for company financial years ending in 2005. Progress against each of these indicators has already been communicated in the 2007 second edition of the annual AISE sustainability report, which includes explanatory notes for the trends observed, best-practice examples and case studies. Future reports will be published annually.
This will enable stakeholders to assess the progress of the industry whilst individual companies will be able to evaluate their own performance against the industry average. The initiative will evolve over time as experience develops and feedback is obtained.