Responsibly Made Products
* Our products are made at Colgate-Palmolive facilities that are increasing energy and water efficiency, driving towards zero waste, striving for no workplace accidents, and adhering to ethical labor practices.
Environmental Management
We’re committed to meeting all applicable environmental rules and regulations - and often exceed the standards - in how we make and market our products and operate our facilities. Strict standards define environmental performance at Colgate; all our facilities have a fully implemented Environmental Management System covering a wide range of categories, including energy efficiency, climate, water stewardship, and waste management.
Highlights
- Comprehensive Environmental Audits are conducted on an average 3-5 year schedule at all Company manufacturing facilities to ensure compliance with environmental standards. Additionally, daily EHS inspections and comprehensive annual self-assessments are conducted to help ensure ongoing compliance.
- Through our ‘5% for the Planet’ program, Colgate-Palmolive aims to allocate 5% of every manufacturing facility’s annual capital budget towards projects that reduce energy, water and waste.
- From 2002-2018, Colgate-Palmolive global manufacturing sites have reduced:
- Energy intensity by 31.8%
- Absolute Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 29.7%
- Water Intensity by 45.8%
- Landfill Waste Intensity by 41.3% (2010 base year)
Occupational Health and Safety
Colgate-Palmolive People around the world are committed to maintaining a robust safety culture and healthy and safe working conditions, as we work toward zero workplace accidents.
Highlights
- Comprehensive Health and Safety Audits are conducted on an average 3-5 year schedule at all Company manufacturing facilities to ensure compliance with health and safety standards. Additionally, daily EHS inspections and comprehensive annual self-assessments are conducted to help ensure ongoing compliance.
- Colgate-Palmolive set a new standard with its safety performance in 2018. Both our Total Recordable Rate and Lost Workday Case Rate were 0.22 and 0.06, respectively, reflecting our lowest number of recordable accidents in a calendar year since we began tracking data, more than 25 years ago.
- Colgate-Palmolive leverages our membership with the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), to apply employee exposure standards globally. That helps ensure our employees are protected even in locations where there are no local employee exposure regulations.
- To reduce the serious accidents and incidents that have the most severe impact on our people, we’ve implemented a multi-year program to focus on the critical safety risks at our global facilities.
Labor Practices
Colgate-Palmolive has a long-standing commitment to respecting human and labor rights worldwide and supports the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Labor Organization (ILO) Core Labor Standards. Colgate-Palmolive works with and seeks out business partners who share our commitment to universal human rights. We recognize the responsibility of businesses to respect labor rights and engage with stakeholders’ adherence to universal human rights.
Highlights
- Colgate-Palmolive does not use forced labor within our own operations and we strive to eradicate forced labor from our extended supply and value chains. We believe that every worker should have freedom of movement, no worker should pay for a job, and no worker should be indebted or coerced to work.
- To learn more about our human rights strategy and management approach, please see Colgate`s Respecting Human Rights and Labor Rights: Disclosure Statements..
Partnerships & Recognition
An important element of Colgate-Palmolive’s responsible production efforts is our engagement and collaboration with external partners, which complement our strong internal capabilities and provide independent 3rd party assurance.
Highlights
- Colgate-Palmolive’s science-based climate goal related to manufacturing, was approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative.
- Colgate-Palmolive is committed to the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for all new plants; having achieved 13 manufacturing plant certifications to date.
- Colgate-Palmolive has achieved GBCI TRUE Zero Waste certification at 16 plants on 4 continents. We started in the US in 2016, and since that time we have become the first company to have achieved TRUE Zero Waste in Latin America, mainland Europe, India, China and Vietnam, with continued work underway in Africa and Australia.
- Colgate-Palmolive is a charter member of the National Safety Council since 1913.
- Colgate-Palmolive was named a 2019 US EPA ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for nine consecutive years (2011-2019).
- Colgate-Palmolive facilities worldwide have achieved 74 US EPA ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry site recognitions.
- Colgate-Palmolive is a long-time corporate member of the ORCHSE Strategies, LLC and is considered to be among the very best companies.
- Colgate-Palmolive is an organizational supporter of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH).
- Colgate-Palmolive supports the United Nations Global Compact and is working to align our operations and strategies with its ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment, and anticorruption, and we are taking action in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
*Our Responsibly Made claim applies to all Colgate-Palmolive owned and operated facilities. Aspects related to Sustainable & Safe Ingredients, Responsible Sourcing, Sustainable Packaging and more can be found on our sustainability website.
“LEED” and related logos are trademarks owned by the U.S. Green Building Council and are used with permission.