Water load of responsibility
December 1st 2009 Mark Goldman, Diversey global communications director, believes in sustainability, and a watered down version just won’t do.Gerardine Coyne reports
Cost is not necessarily about dollars.There is a cost to how certain environmental factors ultimately affect our planet and our future prosperity,” says Goldman.“When we talk about providing a ‘zero cost model’ for our customers, that includes reducing water or carbon costs as well as labour costs.”
Goldman is confident that sustainable practices are happening way beyond the cleaning industry.“I think we have reached a critical mass in the world today in terms of conscience and the idea that we need to look at the environmental impact of everything that we do.”Covering this,Goldman says there are two elements to Diversey’s sustainability focus.
“Firstly there’s the sustainability that our customers understand – they know that using our product versus another has tangible environmental benefits.
“Then there are the things that they as customers can’t control, which is ‘value added’by us.This revolves around how we deliver the product, packaging and new ways of concentrating products.”The customer is then automatically aligned with a sustainable business model.“It has a purpose beyond a business transaction,”argues Goldman.“Their choice to do business with an environmentally conscious vendor is something that they can carry forward too.”
Sustainability becomes an integral part of the supply chain, tallying with the much mooted ‘cradle to grave’ approach. But are Diversey’s customers on track with sustainability?
“Some customers are further along than others. In the hospitality industry we’ve seen a huge explosion in the last few years with major hotel chains emphasising sustainability to their end users. But we have also been educating our clients,‘hey, there is a better way to do things, and it’s not going to cut into the quality you expect.’”
Knights of the water round table
In August this year it was announced that Diversey would provide the World Wildlife Fund with a four year $1 million grant to support research for the Global Water Roundtable.The Roundtable will establish global standards for water stewardship, with the goal of ‘addressing the global threat of water stress, the increasing pollution of rivers and a decline in freshwater wildlife species’. But why has Diversey invested in it, and how does this benefit both parties?
“Climate Change and Water needs business at the table.We are the manufacturers, and we work closely with customers that are huge water users.We have a unique perspective in that we have walked a mile in our customers’ shoes.”Goldman believes that the water saving solutions that Diversey has implemented across business, such as its AquaCheck water management program for food and beverage plants, can pave the way forward in helping standard makers understand how business operates and what it needs in terms of resources.
“With the Global Water Roundtable sponsorship we want to sit down with the leading global thinkers and share the information we have gained by providing water saving products.We believe this will improve standards.We are committed to putting financial resources behind the research to saving water.”
Big friendly giant?
Diversey is a huge corporation, and in the UK, what with current political and financial machinations, it is hard not to be cynical when business supports a worthy cause. So does Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) really exist?
“In the case of the Global Water Roundtable,we are one voice of many,” says Goldman.“And the output of these discussions may or may not align with our thinking. But fundamentally we believe very strongly in the issue of water sustainability.To not act would be irresponsible. It’s about a focused, long term effort.We also have social schemes that have nothing to do with cleaning, and that is a true test of CSR.” (One example is the Global Children’s Initiative, where the company ‘adopts’ nearby schools in impoverished areas near each business operation, and undertakes activities with a mixture of vounteering and donations).
Goldman says PPP (People Planet Profit) has to be integrated. In terms of sustainability,“We are not going to come to market with something that takes a step backward.” CSR aside, the market is of course a key driver for business. But perhaps the two don’t always have to be mutually exclusive.After all water is a resource that spans every section of PPP. “Our belief is that over the next twenty years, the number one issue globally is going to be sources of clean water and water sustainability,” says Goldman. “And we need to act – not tomorrow – today.”
Big bucks cleans up
Diversey recently received a $477m investment from private equity firm CDR. Goldman says CDR is a “conservative, very traditional firm”, so why the investment in a downturn? Goldman says there are two reasons:“We are operating at a time of pandemics, so demand for cleaning and hygiene products is at a record.This is the kind of pandemic that’s going to change human behaviour.
“We are now in an era where people are actively thinking about the cleaning of surrounding surfaces.They expect government buildings, schools and hospitals, to be disinfected, clean and safe.At its core this leads to an increased demand for product. “CDR also sees a highly fragmented industry. Beyond ourselves and Ecolab, there are sizeable regional players, but with the increasing focus on sustainability and ever tightening government regulations, some of those smaller players, the ‘mom and pops’of the cleaning world, are going to have a hard time competing.
“Depending on who you ask, it is an industry worth $35-$45 billion dollars globally, and right now it is an industry ripe for consolidation” More articles from Diversey UK Limited: | 
