UNILEVER
© Perkins & Will / Unilever
CSO Magazine takes a closer look at the circular economy for plastic being instituted at and supported by Unilever
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M ultinational consumer goods company Unilever has , since its founding 90 years ago , diversified its offerings to include a huge variety of items ranging from food to cleaning products . With over 400 brands , Unilever says on its website that on any day , “ 2.5bn people use Unilever products ”. According to Statista , the company ’ s market value in 2018 was $ 155.8bn , with revenues of US $ 56.612bn (€ 50.982bn ), making it one of Europe ’ s largest companies . As of 2019 , the company reportedly employs 155,000 people around the world .
For a company as large as Unilever , any of its initiatives have the potential for huge knock-on effects . Because of this , it stresses the importance of research and development ( R & D ) to pioneer new approaches . With six R & D centres across the world staffed by 6,000 R & D workers and US $ 1.1bn (€ 1bn ) of investment , the company says that “ Innovation is at the heart of Unilever ’ s ambition to grow sustainably . Science , technology and product development are central to our plans to keep providing consumers with great brands that improve
NOVEMBER 2019