Kimberly-Clark teams around the world were recognized this week for exceptional sustainability leadership with the company’s annual Crystal Tree Awards.

The Crystal Tree Awards are Kimberly-Clark’s highest internal recognition for teams and individuals who are working to solve critical sustainability challenges while bringing value to the business. The awards highlight the unique talents and capabilities of Kimberly-Clark people and teams around the world who help the company make positive and lasting contributions to social and environmental causes that align with the company’s values and business.

Each winning project contributes to at least one of Kimberly-Clark’s sustainability ambitions for 2030. This year’s winners include:

• Kimberly-Clark Professional Supports Infectious Disease Training: Kimberly-Clark Professional collaborated with ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, and the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC), a division of ISSA, to create a scholarship program to address the needs of cleaning professionals during the COVD-19 pandemic. The scholarship program helps smaller cleaning organizations provide critical training on infectious disease prevention and control measures for their employees.
• Kleenex Australia ECO Bath Tissue: Kimberly-Clark’s Kleenex Australia team responded to consumer demand for more sustainable products with the company’s first ever FSC-certified bamboo product globally and the first bamboo toilet paper product to be offered in Australia.
• Kimberly-Clark Softex Diaper Recycling Program: The Softex team implemented a diaper recycling program to reduce diaper waste in Indonesia. The program collects used diapers, which are then processed into products such as solid fertilizer, hydrogel fertilizer, pock brick, astray, oil fuel, wool yarn, and fiber.
• Renewable Energy in North America: Kimberly-Clark is now powering the production of essential products in North America, including Cottonelle®, Viva®, Scott® and Kleenex® with renewable energy. Through a utility scale VPPA with a wind farm in Texas, Kimberly-Clark’s tissue manufacturing in North America is powered by 100% wind energy, specifically 670,000 megawatt hours of renewable energy annually.
• Water Consumption Reductions in Bolivia: The team at Kimberly-Clark’s manufacturing facility in Santa Cruz, Bolivia significantly reduced water consumption over the past five years through culture change at the facility and deploying technological advances, like a new water treatment plant. 
• Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Certification: Kimberly-Clark team members in Western Europe received RSPO certification for the palm oil derivatives in the balsam lotion that is utilized for facial tissue production. In order to receive RSPO certification, the team worked closely with suppliers to build a detailed management system that allows full traceability of raw materials from harvest to end product. The certification assures retailers and consumers that the palm oil derivatives come from sustainable sources.

For the company’s “People’s Choice Award,” thousands of Kimberly-Clark employees voted for their favorite project from 16 shortlisted nominees. The company’s Toilets Change Lives program in Latin America came out on top. Toilets Change Lives brings solutions to the global sanitation crisis through consumer awareness, NGO partnerships, and on-the-ground activations. In 2020, the program impacted the lives of more than 37,000 people across Latin America, bringing the total impact in the region to 1.2 million people since 2015.

Each year, the Crystal Tree Awards celebrate leadership in sustainability and energize Kimberly-Clark’s employees to create positive social and environmental impacts for generations to come. The Crystal Tree Awards are now in their eleventh year.