Resources and Environment
Group policy
Our business and communities depend on the sustainable consumption of natural resources and protection of the environment and biodiversity. We will work to improve the life cycle and circularity impacts of our products and supply chain.
Risks & opportunities
The key risks and opportunities associated with resources and environment are summarized in the table of materiality page (Materiality, Risk, Opportunity). While these are largely common across the consolidated group, though individual PCGs do have different focus areas and action priorities that reflect the local maturity of their improvement journeys.
Improvement & performance
In 2023, our total waste generated decreased 7% to 14.7 kilograms per tonne (kg/t), while the hazardous waste proportion increased 3.3 percentage points (pp) to 36.6%. Waste recovered (recycled, reused) decreased 5.5 pp to 30.8% of total waste generated. These changes were driven by a combination of factors, including reduced generation and improved recovery through improvement initiatives in a number of businesses, increased production in NIPSEA Group, changes in production mix across different business units, and inclusion of recent acquisitions. These same factors also influenced water performance, where water withdrawal decreased 7% to 0.54 kiloliters per tonne (kL/t), while water consumed increased 20% to 0.47 kL/t. A new metric has been established to improve understanding of water consumption in regions of high or extremely high water stress, with 61% of total water consumption occurring in such regions during the year. This metric will help determine future priorities for improvement in sustainability impacts associated with water consumption.
Performance
2023 performance and changes versus the prior year for individual PCGs are summarized in the following table, together with the key improvement priorities for the year.
Metrics and results related to Resources and Environment (2023)
* Figures in brackets indicate year-on-year change
| PCG | Waste | Water | Improvement Priorities | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Waste Generated (kg/t) |
Hazardous Waste Generated (% of total) |
Waste Recovered (% of total) |
Total Water Withdrawn (kL/t) |
Total Water Consumed (kL/t) |
Water Consumption in High Stress Regions (% of total) |
||
| NIPSEA Group | 10.4 (-1%) |
46.8% (+3.6 pp) |
11.0% (-9.9 pp) |
0.49 (-6%) |
0.48 (+26%) |
66% | Implementation of local improvement projects, including a water project at the Shanghai factory that reduced water discharge by 90% via reuse in production. Reduce water intensity by 8% by 2025. |
| DuluxGroup | 40.1 (-13%) |
26.6% (+1.8 pp) |
52.5% (+15.0 pp) |
0.55 (-11%) |
0.34 (-10%) |
36% | Implementation of landfill waste plans to achieve 2030 target of 50% reduction in DuluxGroup (Pacific), waste water treatment plant improvements (France, Italy), and implementation of waste and water metrics across recent acquisitions. |
| Japan Group | 53.6 (+7%) |
12.4% (-1.9 pp) |
80.6% (-15.9 pp) |
1.66 (+2%) |
0.53 (-13%) |
0% | Continued focus on waste separation for recovery and recycling of wash waters in paint manufacturing. |
| Dunn-Edwards | 9.9 (-11%) |
1.0% (+1.0 pp) |
5.4% (-4.9 pp) |
0.63 (+10%) |
0.50 (-4%) |
93% | - |
| Total | 14.7 (-7%) |
36.6% (+3.3 pp) |
30.8% (-5.5 pp) |
0.54 (-7%) |
0.47 (+20%) |
61% | Sharing of best practices across the Group, including support for implementing new water consumption performance metrics in high-stress regions. |
For details on Resources and Environment, see the ESG Data page.