Month: April 2023

Three green hydrogen projects that Kimberly-Clark is developing with energy industry partners have won places on the UK Government’s Hydrogen Business Model Strategy (HBMS) shortlist.

The scheme will kickstart the UK’s low carbon hydrogen economy by funding a first-round allocation of 250MW of electrolytic hydrogen projects across England, Scotland and Wales.

Kimberly-Clark, the parent company of leading household brands including Andrex®, Kleenex®, Huggies®, WypAll® and Scott®, expects to reduce its natural gas consumption in the UK by 61% when these three projects are operational at the end of 2025, subject to final government contract.

The three hydrogen projects selected by The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) include a green hydrogen hub in Barrow-in-Furness. Being developed in partnership with Carlton Power, the Barrow Green Hydrogen hub will power Kimberly-Clark’s Cumbria manufacturing facility.

The other two projects are being developed in partnership with HYRO, a joint venture between Octopus Energy Generation and renewable energy company RES, and will see green hydrogen supplied to Kimberly-Clark’s manufacturing facilities in Flint, North Wales, and Northfleet in Kent. In total, the three schemes are expected to provide a total of 50MW of green hydrogen.

The shortlisting of all three green hydrogen projects submitted by Kimberly-Clark’s partners coincides with the switch-on this week of a new purpose-built onshore wind farm expected to generate around 80% of Kimberly-Clark’s UK electrical power needs.

Located in Cumberhead in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, the 12-turbine wind farm has taken just 18 months to build. It’s the result of a power purchase agreement (PPA) between Kimberly-Clark and Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust (ORIT), a company managed by Octopus Energy Generation. It is also the first wind farm to supply Kimberly-Clark outside of North America. Furthermore, RES was recently awarded the full-scope asset management contract for the wind farm which will see it provide technical, commercial and financial asset management for the site.

Kimberly-Clark will take 160,000 megawatt hours from the wind farm every year, the equivalent of taking 37,000 vehicles off the road. The power will be used at Kimberly-Clark’s manufacturing facilities at Barrow-in-Furness, Flint, and Northfleet, as well as its distribution centres in Chorley and Northfleet.

These renewable energy initiatives combined will enable Kimberly-Clark to achieve a total reduction of its greenhouse gas emissions in the UK & Ireland by 86% by the end of 2025 (vs 2015 baseline).

Dan Howell, Kimberly-Clark’s UK and Ireland MD said: “These developments represent a significant stepping stone towards our big ambition to move solely to renewable energy to manufacture Andrex, Kleenex, Huggies, WypAll and Scott in the UK by 2030. We can only reach our decarbonization goals via innovative partnerships and cutting-edge technology.

These green hydrogen schemes and our spectacular new wind farm in Cumberhead are perfect examples of what our consumers, retail partners, stakeholders and employees expect us to do. A lot of hard work has gone into developing the green hydrogen projects and it’s fantastic to see the UK government selecting them for the funding shortlist.”

DESNZ expects projects on the HBMS shortlist to generate up to 250MW – with the three schemes submitted by Kimberly-Clark’s partners accounting for just over 20% of that total. Contracts are expected to be awarded by the end of this year, with first projects aiming to be operational in 2025.

The Cumberhead wind farm is operational from April 2023, with Kimberly-Clark and ORIT working on an official opening event later this year.

Whirlpool Corporation today announced that it achieved Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWtL) Gold or Platinum status (self-certification) at its large manufacturing sites worldwide1, as part of the company’s ambitious and long-standing commitment to sustainable operations.

Whirlpool Corporation first set its goal to reach Zero Waste to Landfill in 2012 and has continued to invest in plant efficiency and waste reduction—working closely with recyclers and sustainability vendors to find new, innovative ways to eliminate waste and contribute to the circular economy. This goal is aligned with the UL ECVP 2799 Zero Waste to Landfill standard, which requires at least 95 percent diversion from landfills.

“Sustainability is central to Whirlpool Corporation’s culture. We are relentless in our efforts to improve the way we produce and manufacture our products to deliver on our social and environmental sustainability goals while not compromising product performance,” said Marc Bitzer, CEO and chairman, Whirlpool Corporation. “Our Zero Waste to Landfill achievement is a significant milestone that underscores the commendable dedication and collective commitment from our team to drive meaningful change. We will continue to unite our sustainable practices with our corporate purpose to support our communities and grow our business.”

Zero Waste to Landfill is part of Whirlpool Corporation’’s ongoing commitment to World Class Manufacturing (WCM), which sets the highest standards for manufacturing excellence and is the foundation for the company’s sustainable manufacturing journey. The company continues to score higher along the WCM Environmental criteria and has led several key initiatives besides ZWtL, including in biodiversity, green buildings, renewable energy, and energy retrofits.

To achieve the Zero Waste to Landfill goal, Whirlpool Corporation has maintained an unwavering commitment to do the right thing for consumers and the planet while not compromising product performance. Recognizing its climate impact, in 2021 the company also announced a commitment to reach a net zero emissions target (scope 1 and 2) in its global plants and operations by 2030, spanning all direct (Scope 1) and power-related (Scope 2) emissions.

Several actions have already been implemented towards this goal:

The company has reduced its carbon footprint by accelerating energy-saving plant retrofits and entering two wind Virtual Power Purchase Agreements (VPPAs) that will generate wind energy equivalent to 100% of Whirlpool Corp.’s U.S. manufacturing plant energy consumption.The company also issued its inaugural $300 million sustainability bond in April of 2021 to finance social and environmental projects across the organization.In February of 2022, Whirlpool Corporation joined the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Better Climate Challenge which targets a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent within 10 years and collaborating with the DOE and other organizations to cut carbon and save energy.

“For more than 50 years, Whirlpool Corporation has prioritized social and environmental sustainability to support its people, the communities where we live and operate, and the planet,” said Sr. VP of Community Relations and Sustainability Pam Klyn. “This accomplishment is a testament to the meaningful work of our employees around the globe and we look forward to building on this momentum through our sustainability efforts in 2023 and beyond.”
Zero Waste to Landfill goal reached for all large global manufacturing facilities owned by Whirlpool at December 31, 2022 with the exception of a new manufacturing facility in Argentina that opened Oct. 28, 2022 and the InSinkErator business which was acquired on Oct. 31, 2022.

1 Zero Waste to Landfill goal reached for all large global manufacturing facilities owned by Whirlpool at December 31, 2022 with the exception of a new manufacturing facility in Argentina that opened Oct. 28, 2022 and the InSinkErator business which was acquired on Oct. 31, 2022.

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World Health Day is celebrated each year on April 7 and marks the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948. This year’s theme is Health for All. At Medtronic, we strive for better health access for our world and believe healthcare technology can connect, enhance, and extend lives.

Donor-supported healthcare programs in low- and middle-income countries have historically been focused on specific diseases like malaria or maternal health, but in designing the global health system of the future, Medtronic LABS is thinking bigger than individual diseases.

The independent Medtronic-funded nonprofit is expanding to address the full spectrum of community health needs — hypertension, diabetes, mental health, malaria, TB, HIV, maternal health, and more.

“With over 5 billion people in these communities across the world lacking access to healthcare, we need health systems to look beyond addressing specific conditions and consider patients’ broader health needs,” said Anne Stake, chief strategy and product officer at Medtronic LABS. “It’s time to move away from the historical ‘verticalization’ of health systems.”

LABS, which accelerates healthcare access for underserved communities around the world through technology, has been primarily focused on hypertension and diabetes since launching in 2013.

While disease-specific programs, which Stake describes as verticals, have been successful in addressing individual diseases, they often overlook the connections between different health conditions and the overall needs of patients.

“We realized that LABS’ strength in data-driven population health adds value to a range of different conditions,” she said. “It’s a pivot away from just looking at a single condition to transforming community healthcare delivery.”

And what does that transformation look like? For LABS, it’s more data driven and responsive to patient needs.

Designed for growth

LABS has found its success in a sustainable healthcare model that pairs hyper-local services with cutting-edge technology — and that won’t change as it continues to grow.

The organization forges strong partnerships in the public and private sectors, all while connecting patients to care through a network of community health workers, who play a critical role in bridging the gap between disease verticals.

Health systems are equipped with LABS’ technology platform, SPICE, designed to drive better health outcomes for patients. SPICE is ushering in a new era of data-driven community healthcare delivery. For instance, one feature alerts clinicians if a community health worker sees patients with worsening symptoms or alarming test results in the field.

The dashboard tracks health outcomes and population health indicators in real time — which can support policy and planning for health system leaders.

SPICE — and LABS overall — was built for this type of growth.

“We built SPICE for integrated care, with the ability to turn on and off conditions,” said Kelly Shelden, head of technology at LABS, “Our strategy from the beginning is to be the community health platform standard.”

Since its launch, LABS has reached more than 1 million patients with hypertension and diabetes, and trained over 6,500 health workers in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, Sierra Leone, the United States, and India.

That impact is expected to grow, according Megha Kumar, head of global partnerships at LABS.

“With new partnerships at every level of the global health system we believe that our move into broader community healthcare delivery will amplify our impact 10 times over the next couple of years,” she said.