Curt Johnson, Chair of Diversey, talks RoI of Sustainability, “CO2 is Waste” and energy savings

Diversey invited me to attend their Climate Change Summit in Amsterdam earlier this week. I went along and was very pleasantly surprised by Diversey’s commitment to corporate sustainability.

Towards the end of the day I had a chat with Curt Johnson, the Chair of Diversey, about their sustainability initiatives. Some of the highlights of the conversation:

• Sustainability goes back to Curt’s grandfather leading an expedition into the Amazon in the 1930’s! – 1:00
• Curt’s father (Sam Johnson) banned CFC’s as propellants from all SC Johnson products before there was any legislative requirement – 1:20
• A cost/benefit analysis shows that being sustainable produces ROI – 2:40
• Diversey are tripling their target and now aim to reduce CO₂ emissions 25% by 2013 over their 2003 baseline – 3:56
• Diversey’s experience is that for every $1 invested in emissions reductions, they get $2 back – 4:30
• Diversey are tripling their target and now aim to reduce CO₂ emissions 25% by 2013 over their 2003 baseline – 3:56
• CO₂ is a waste by-product of our operations… if you can reduce CO₂ it is inevitable that you will create a more efficient system that is more cost effective – 4:40
• CO₂ is waste, so if you minimise CO₂, you minimise waste and you maximise efficiency and increase profits – 6:00
• Diversey’s sustainability initiatives have a huge influence on employee morale, engagement and retention – 6:31

Some other great tidbits which were left on the cutting room floor were:

• Diversey participate in the EPA’s SmartWay program to reduce the impact of shipping
• Diversey intend to be the first company to publish the carbon footprint of all of their products on the products
• Diversey have converted to a daylight office cleaning regime for a one-off cost of $100,000. This move is now saving Diversey 8% on their annual energy bill and
• Diversey actively works with their customers to help them to reduce their chemical usage!