Colgate-Palmolive's Vance Merolla on Squeezing the Most Out of Sustainability Efforts
10/17/23 • 39 min
Few companies produce as many household products as Colgate-Palmolive. Vance Merolla is the Senior Vice President of Global Sustainability at Colgate-Palmolive and he joins the show to discuss how the company tackles sustainability across all its products and brands. And make no mistake, we're talking about a ton of brands. Obviously, there's Colgate and Palmolive. But there's also Ajax, Speed Stick, Murphy Oil Soap, Fabuloso, Tom's of Maine and Irish Spring. They also have an entire line of pet products.
Colgate-Palmolive has big sustainability challenges. Vance is here to talk about how they solve them, including advancements in recyclable toothpaste tubes, what the company learned from getting certain aspects of its Sustainability and Social Impact Strategy approved by the Science-Based Targets initiative and how Vance and the team recently went about signing a virtual power purchase agreement to help Colgate-Palmolive power its operations. Vance has a wealth of sustainability knowledge, so enjoy the show.
Highlights from Vance Merolla
Colgate's 2025 sustainability and social impact strategy - (1:59)
Setting science-based targets for net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 - (4:39)
Reducing emissions and achieving net-zero goals - (7:38)
Sustainability data management - (11:22)
Renewable energy purchasing strategy for Colgate Palmolive - (14:43)
Oral health initiatives and sustainability efforts - (21:55)
Making toothpaste tubes recyclable - (24:41)
Reducing plastic waste in Colgate's manufacturing facilities - (29:58)
Sustainability initiatives and consumer insights - (32:52)
Few companies produce as many household products as Colgate-Palmolive. Vance Merolla is the Senior Vice President of Global Sustainability at Colgate-Palmolive and he joins the show to discuss how the company tackles sustainability across all its products and brands. And make no mistake, we're talking about a ton of brands. Obviously, there's Colgate and Palmolive. But there's also Ajax, Speed Stick, Murphy Oil Soap, Fabuloso, Tom's of Maine and Irish Spring. They also have an entire line of pet products.
Colgate-Palmolive has big sustainability challenges. Vance is here to talk about how they solve them, including advancements in recyclable toothpaste tubes, what the company learned from getting certain aspects of its Sustainability and Social Impact Strategy approved by the Science-Based Targets initiative and how Vance and the team recently went about signing a virtual power purchase agreement to help Colgate-Palmolive power its operations. Vance has a wealth of sustainability knowledge, so enjoy the show.
Highlights from Vance Merolla
Colgate's 2025 sustainability and social impact strategy - (1:59)
Setting science-based targets for net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 - (4:39)
Reducing emissions and achieving net-zero goals - (7:38)
Sustainability data management - (11:22)
Renewable energy purchasing strategy for Colgate Palmolive - (14:43)
Oral health initiatives and sustainability efforts - (21:55)
Making toothpaste tubes recyclable - (24:41)
Reducing plastic waste in Colgate's manufacturing facilities - (29:58)
Sustainability initiatives and consumer insights - (32:52)
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Sponsored by: ImpactAISummit
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Measuring GDP vs TBL (triple bottom line) - 14:44
The B corp movement is expanding - 17:50
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'Living in a world of fewer, better things' - 28:06
Expanding 'healthful' decision-making beyond food purchases - 31:04
'Strategy starts with the real story' - 31:40
Collaborating with outside organizations like Samsung - 37:11
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The power of word choice in communication - 43:40
The history of "Our Footprint" - 46:09
Sustainability and the role of agency - 50:10
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Sustainability SmartPod - Colgate-Palmolive's Vance Merolla on Squeezing the Most Out of Sustainability Efforts
Transcript
(Note: This transcript was created using artificial intelligence. It has not been edited verbatim.)
Sean McMahon 00:09
Hello everyone and welcome to the Sustainability SmartPod. I'm your host Sean McMahon. When we booked guests for this show, we often try to bring in sustainability leaders from companies that are household names. Think about it: AT&T, American Airlines, Panasonic, Marriott, Wendy's and so on. But none of those organizations produce as many household produ
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