Thriving communities

Responsible & sustainable sourcing

Responsible & sustainable sourcing

We recognize that our ingredients, manufacturing, packaging and distribution have environmental and social impacts. That’s why the responsible and sustainable sourcing of our raw materials, packaging, third-party manufacturing and other goods and services is so essential to our efforts to create a clean world, healthy lives and thriving communities.
 
We maintain a strong commitment to ethical business practices; treating people with dignity, respect and equal opportunity; and conducting business in a responsible way that promotes good stewardship of our planet. Business partners are expected to comply with our Business Partner Code of Conduct. The Code details our expectations regarding adherence to the Human Rights Commitment and other expectations related to human rights and labor, health and safety, the environment, and business conduct and ethics.

Our responsible and sustainable sourcing program — including our related commitments and progress — is led by our vice president of sustainability, with executive oversight by our senior vice president – chief product supply officer. The Nominating, Governance and Corporate Responsibility Committee (the NGCRC) of our board of directors oversees programs relating to environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters. Our full board also reviews and discusses ESG topics regularly — including progress toward meeting our specific ESG goals — and oversees risks, opportunities and strategy related to ESG issues that are priorities for our business such as sustainable supply chain management, product safety and other significant areas.

Ethical practices

Ethical practices

Our sustainability strategy covers how we work with our business partners on key issues such as ethical business conduct and practices. We are committed to driving environmental and social compliance, workplace safety and quality assurance, as these are all integral to the long-term success of our company and our partners. We also have grievance mechanisms available, including the Clorox compliance hotline, to ensure that individuals have a forum to raise concerns about compliance with the standards set out in our Codes of Conduct.
Clorox’s formal risk assessment and auditing program for our direct material suppliers helps to identify higher risk suppliers and address concerns regarding adherence to the principles described in the Clorox Business Partner Code of Conduct. It also encourages suppliers to apply these same standards to their supply chains.
 
As part of the program, we conduct an annual assessment of our direct material suppliers using several criteria to identify suppliers at higher risk for social and/or environmental sustainability issues. We leverage our membership in Sedex, a nonprofit organization with a globally recognized audit methodology to help ensure sustainable business and responsible sourcing practices, to audit higher risk suppliers. Suppliers are required to conduct or share their most recent Sedex Member Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA) four-pillar audit or approved audit equivalent, such as AIM-Progress Mutual Recognition Framework. The audits, conducted by an independent third party, assess suppliers’ activities in the areas of labor rights, health and safety, environmental sustainability and business ethics.
 
For a supplier to remain in good-standing with Clorox, it must appropriately address any non-compliances identified during an audit in a timely and satisfactory manner.

To further our commitment to eradicate modern slavery and human trafficking in our global supply chains, we annually provide training to all global employees to assist in identifying and addressing potential risks of slavery and human trafficking in our supply chain. Additionally, for some supply chains, we engage suppliers to develop their own training and risk mitigation programs to combat human trafficking and slavery in global supply chains. Additional information about our efforts can be found in our California Transparency in Supply Chains Act and UK Modern Slavery Act disclosure statements.

We conduct annual assessments of our supply chain related to the use of conflict minerals (tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold). Based on these assessments, we determine and report whether the covered minerals, which may be necessary to the functionality or production of our products, were acceptably sourced from recycled or scrap sources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) region; or have not originated in the DRC or adjoining countries. For a full explanation of our country of origin assessment, see our SEC Form SD Filing.

Sustainable sourcing

Sustainable sourcing

Forest commodities

Forest commodities

In looking at the forest commodities in our supply chain, we’ve identified wood-based fiber use and sourcing for our packaging as the areas where we can have the greatest impact on reducing the pressure on natural forests. As well, we recognize that responsibly sourcing palm oil ingredients plays a key role in protecting human rights while conserving the environment, including our forests.
Ninety percent of our fiber use is in our packaging, both the primary package that contains some of our products and the secondary packaging in which we ship our products. Our strategy to minimize the impact of our fiber sourcing starts with reducing the amount of fiber we use. Next, we strive to maximize recycled fiber to meet the majority of our needs. When virgin fiber is required for our packaging, we trace the fiber we purchase to the country of origin and seek sustainable forestry certifications to ensure responsible forestry practices have been followed.
 
In 2019, 99% of the fiber used in the packaging we purchased was recycled or certified virgin material, with 45% recycled fiber and 54% virgin fiber from certified sources.
 
Certifications for the volume of virgin material in the packaging we purchased included SFI (80%), FSC (15%), and PEFC (5%). We’ve made great progress in our commitment to recycled or certified virgin fiber, and we continue to work toward finding innovative ways to reduce the environmental impact of our fiber-based packaging as part of IGNITE, where we’ve set a goal for 50% combined reduction in virgin plastic and fiber packaging by 2030.
 
Learn more about our sustainable packaging goals in the Clean World section of our website.
 
In addition to packaging, we use wood-based fiber in some of our products — namely Clorox® disinfecting wipes, Clorox® compostable cleaning wipes, Burt’s Bees® towelettes and Burt’s Bees® baby wipes. Although we don’t purchase this fiber directly, approximately 97% of the tree-based material in our wipes are from FSC certified sources.
Thriving communities

We want everyone to have the opportunity to be the best version of themselves. For that to happen, we need to be surrounded by colleagues who value us, neighbors who care about us, and institutions that see and respect us. That’s why we’re focused on inclusion and diversity, supporting our communities and responsible sourcing. Although we’re making progress, there’s always more work to do. A safer, better world for everybody is always worth fighting for.

Learn More
Priorities