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Evaluating a company's impact (the case of Procter & Gamble)
A deep dive into Procter & Gamble's environmental and social impact

This week’s read time: 4 minutes
You are reading Green Digest Impact, a weekly newsletter that provides in-depth analyses of companies’ environmental and social impact.
OUR APPROACH
Central to our narrative is the principle of double-materiality, which recognizes that a company's impact is twofold: it affects both the environment and society at large, and in turn, these external factors influence the company's financial and operational performance.
While traditional ESG assessments focus on the latter, we aim to examine companies' direct impacts on these factors. In pursuit of this, we introduce a unique scoring system that quantifies a company's impact.
THIS WEEK’S COMPANY
Procter & Gamble

This week we dive deep into Procter & Gamble environmental and social impact.
Procter & Gamble (P&G) is a global consumer goods company that has been a household name for over 180 years. With a diverse portfolio of iconic brands such as Vicks, Tide, Pampers, Gillette, Oral-B, Head & Shoulders, and Olay, P&G serves consumers in over 180 countries worldwide.
Some interesting facts:
P&G's products are used by over 60% of the world's population, making it one of the most widely used consumer goods companies globally.
P&G is one of the oldest companies, founded in 1837 in Cincinnati, Ohio, by a candle maker (William Procter) and a soap maker (James Gamble), who were brothers-in-law.
COMPANY’S IMPACT
Procter & Gamble’s overall impact score

Procter & Gamble has a general impact score of +0.28 (on a scale from -5 to +5). Its impact is spread across 12 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 13 topics, split between positive and negative analyses.
In the socio-economic sphere,
P&G is the world's largest consumer goods company, with products sold in 180 countries and used by over 5 billion consumers. P&G's operations are divided into several segments, including healthcare, beauty, grooming, fabric & home care, and baby, feminine, & family care. The company holds leading market positions in many of these segments, with over 35% market share in fabric care and more than 45% share in the grooming market. The company has a global workforce of over 108,000 employees and collaborates with more than 60,000 external partners worldwide, driving economic growth and job creation in local communities.
P&G has made a significant positive impact on underserved communities worldwide, improving millions of lives through initiatives focused on health, education, sustainability, and disaster relief. Each year, the company reaches millions with clean water, supports children’s education, empowers thousands of farmers, and partners with diverse suppliers globally, among others.
However, despite these positive contributions, P&G faces significant challenges and controversies. The company has been criticized for using carcinogenic chemicals, such as Benzene and PFAS, in some personal care products, raising concerns about consumer safety. Additionally, its palm oil supply chain, primarily sourced from Indonesia and Malaysia, has drawn scrutiny for links to labor exploitation and forced labor, highlighting vulnerabilities in its ethical sourcing practices. The company has also faced multiple fines related to business ethics and anti-competitive practices throughout the years.
Environmentally,
P&G has an annual carbon footprint exceeding 174 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, comparable to the yearly electricity usage of over 36 million homes. The company generates approximately 695,000 tonnes of operational waste, with over 99.5% being recycled or reused. P&G also uses 712,000 tonnes of plastic packaging, 78% of which is designed to be recyclable or reusable; however, 22% (around 156,000 tonnes) remains non-recyclable. Annually, the company withdraws around 70 million m3 of water, with 27% being consumed. Of 130 facilities assessed, 33 (about 25%) are located in high water-risk areas. Additionally, P&G sources roughly 2 million tonnes of palm oil and timber products each year, primarily certified through standards like RSPO, FSC, or PEFC, although investigations have highlighted limitations in the effectiveness of these certifications.
ESG VS IMPACT SCORE
What is Procter & Gamble’s ESG rating?

For comparison, Procter & Gamble has an AA rating in MSCI's ESG evaluation.
However, ESG Ratings from MSCI ESG Research are designed to measure a company’s resilience to financially material ESG risks and they provide a window into one facet of risk to financial performance. They measure how effectively companies manage ESG risks, not their impact on these factors.
SCORES BY SDG
Procter & Gamble’s impact scores by SDG

Positively (and by weight), the company scores the highest in Good Health and Well-being SDG (+0.47), followed by Partnership for the Goals (+3.39) and No Poverty (+3.68).
Negatively, the company scores the worst in Responsible Consumption and Production SDG (-3.33), followed by Decent Work and Economic Growth (-0.67) and Clean Water and Sanitation (-0.45).
*the analysis takes into account the weight of the SDGs

P&G’s impact on some of the SDGs is multifaceted. While the company contributes positively to several goals, it also faces challenges and controversies that hinder its progress.
SDG 3 – P&G promotes Good Health and Well-being through its products. However, the presence of harmful chemicals like benzene and PFAS in some products raises concerns about consumer safety and health risks.
SDG 8 – P&G impacts Decent Work and Economic Growth positively by providing hundreds of thousands of job opportunities, enhancing individuals' quality of life and contributing to social stability. Nevertheless, its supply chain is marred by instances of forced and child labor.
SDG 6 – P&G’s water purifiers improve access to clean water aligning with Clean Water and Sanitation SDG. Conversely, the company's significant water withdrawal and consumption, coupled with a low recycling rate and operations in water-stressed areas, negate this positive impact.
CONCLUSION
Materiality Map & Final Words

So, Procter & Gamble’s key social and environmental impact lies in …
its immense reach as the world’s largest consumer goods company, serving over 5 billion consumers globally. Through its products, P&G positively impacts personal hygiene, self-care, and confidence, while through its initiatives, it helps underserved communities by improving access to clean water, supporting education, empowering farmers, and driving economic growth with its global workforce and partnerships.
However, P&G also faces significant sustainability challenges. Concerns about consumer safety have arisen from the presence of harmful chemicals like Benzene and PFAS in some products. Ethical issues in its supply chain, including labor exploitation linked to palm oil sourcing, and a history of fines for anti-competitive practices highlight vulnerabilities in the company’s operations. Environmentally, while P&G demonstrates strong efforts in waste recycling and the design of recyclable packaging, its substantial CO2 emissions, plastic usage, and water consumption, particularly in high-risk areas, underline ongoing sustainability challenges.
Procter & Gamble’s overall impact score of +0.28 reflects a balance between its positive contributions to global well-being and the ethical and environmental complexities it must address.
If you’d like to delve deeper into Procter & Gamble’s impact, you can explore it here.
If you'd like to learn more about the scoring methodology, you can do so here.
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