SC Johnson to Buy Only Sustainable Palm Oil

(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) Racine, Wis. - May 24, 2011 - SC Johnson announced today that by 2015, it will only purchase palm oil-based ingredients that originate from responsible and sustainable sources. This is yet another step in the company's long-term commitment to using the best ingredients and communicating openly about them.

"While SC Johnson's use of palm oil-based ingredients is relatively small, as a family company we believe responsibility is critical at every level. Being a smaller purchaser doesn't let us off the hook," said Chairman and CEO Fisk Johnson, the fifth generation leader of SC Johnson. "Our commitment to the families who buy our products is that we will work hard to identify the best ingredients, we will source them responsibly and we will be transparent about what's inside our products."   SC Johnson uses palm oil-based ingredients in some of its home cleaning products as a stabilizer, meaning these ingredients help maintain the consistency of a product so it will work better.  It also uses a small amount in some of its air care products.   Regardless of how much it purchases, SC Johnson believes that it should do so responsibly. If not grown and harvested sustainably, palm production can lead to deforestation in countries such as Indonesia. As organizations such as Conservation International and Greenpeace have rightly pointed out, deforestation leads to more carbon emissions than all of the cars, trucks, boats and planes in the world combined. Not to mention that whole ecosystems have been degraded by deforestation, along with the many benefits they would have provided to human well being.   Working with its suppliers as well as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, of which SC Johnson is a member, the company intends to ensure that all of the palm oil-based ingredients it purchases come from certified, sustainable sources. Any needed transitions will be complete by 2015.   SC Johnson has a long history of taking action to improve the environmental profile of its ingredients, from voluntarily and unilaterally eliminating chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) from its aerosols in 1975, to eliminating polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from all its packaging in 2002, to phasing out phthalates in its fragrances starting in 2008.   In 2009, the company led its industry with the launch of an innovative ingredient communication program that made information about ingredients in the company’s products available via a dedicated web site, www.WhatsInsideSCJohnson.com, and the company’s toll-free number 1-800-558-5252. By 2012, SC Johnson also will voluntarily disclose the ingredients it uses in its fragrances as well as providing information on preservatives.   To learn more about SC Johnson’s commitment to sustainability and view its 2010 public report, visit www.scjohnson.com.   About SC Johnson SC Johnson is a family-owned and managed business dedicated to innovative, high-quality products, excellence in the workplace and a long-term commitment to the environment and the communities in which it operates. Based in the USA, the company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of household cleaning products and products for home storage, air care, and pest control. It markets such well-known brands as GLADE®, OFF!®, PLEDGE®, RAID®, SCRUBBING BUBBLES®, SHOUT®, WINDEX® and ZIPLOC® in the U.S. and beyond, with brands marketed outside the U.S. including AUTAN®, BAYGON®, BRISE®, KABIKILLER®, KLEAR®, and MR. MUSCLE®. The 125-year-old company, with more than $8 billion in sales, employs approximately 12,000 people globally and sells products in virtually every country around the world.www.scjohnson.com   # # #   Media Contacts:   Chris Beard, SC Johnson CRBeard@scj.com and (262) 260-2000   Megan DiSciullo, Edelman Megan.DiSciullo@edelman.com and (646) 642-7780   SCJ14061