PZ Cussons

Trusted hygiene brands providing care for millions of people every day.

Founded in 1884, PZ Cussons is an international consumer goods FTSE250 business built on family values. They have over 20 beauty, baby and hygiene brands in their portfolio, including Carex, Original Source and St. Tropez.

PZ have pledged to become a B Corporation by 2026. Ambitious for such a large and complex business, this builds on their Palm Oil Action Plan, expanding their reduction targets for energy, plastics, water and waste.

Challenge
Solution
Outcome

Transforming a large, complex manufacturer

Original Source Shower Gels
With a workforce of over 3,000 people internationally, PZ creates products for millions of people every day. This means producing emissions, packaging and creating waste. As a manufacturer, PZ must work hard to transform the way it does business and manage its environmental impact.

Building on their sustainability progress, PZ’s next ambition is to become a certified B Corporation by 2026. They see their journey towards certification as a bold statement of intent – to be among the first UK-listed companies to achieve it at a group-wide level.

For large multinational manufacturers with so many different brands, certification entails multiple moving parts. PZ is a large enterprise and the team needed help figuring out the mechanics and navigating the complex process of gathering information in a meaningful way.
“I can’t think of any other certification which is that global. All our different markets are familiar with the B Corp Assessment and are motivated to achieve certification.”
— Joanna Gluzman, Chief Sustainability Officer at PZ Cussons

Using the B Impact Assessment to inform sustainability strategy

PZ Cussons were already doing independent sustainability projects, genuinely committed to improving packaging, formulas, waste etc., but it wasn’t until they made a commitment to becoming a B Corp that they had a framework to work to. PZ used the B Corp Assessment tool to define a best practice approach and develop a sustainability strategy.
Imperial Leather soap, made by Cussons.
After carrying out a Materiality Assessment – a formal exercise aimed at engaging stakeholders to determine how important specific environmental, social and governance issues are to them – PZ filled in the B Corp Assessment for their UK market as a litmus test, to see where they sat. Their score, although higher than they thought it would be, was not yet enough for submission. However, it gave them a benchmark and helped to identify where they needed to improve.

Joanna, Chief Sustainability Officer at PZ Cussons, then gave autonomy to other markets – Africa, Asia and Australaisia – to implement an improvement strategy in their own way. For example, in the UK, a key focus was waste, but for other markets the focus was on the local community.

“We set our ambitions high but needed a strategy to get there. We used the BIA, with our Materiality Assessment, to create a framework.”

– Joanna Gluzman, Chief Sustainability Officer at PZ Cussons

Cementing PZ’s reputation as a sustainable business for consumers and investors

Even for an organisation already doing good in so many ways, certifying as a B Corp is quite a feat. Given the nature of the business, manufacturing, and the size and complexity of PZ’s operations, 2026 is a punchy deadline. Publicly announcing their goal to certify is a bold step, showing leadership worthy of celebration.

PZ needed to work together with a partner like Seismic to help them identify and prioritise a plan of improvements, suitable for each different manufacturing region, and at the scale needed.

PZ believe B Corp certification will have benefits for them and all their key stakeholder groups. They see the B Corp logo as a mark of trust for consumers looking to buy from companies with ambitious sustainability goals and policies. PZ have noted retailers responding to this and spotlighting B Corp brands.

PZ also believe that certification will help them to attract the best talent, by improving their employer proposition and reputation with communities. Finally, PZ are aware that investors are increasingly focusing on ESG measures in determining which companies are worthy of investment, driven by a desire to invest responsibly, and a recognition that sustainable companies are providing better returns on investment.

“My ambition is to set our goals in an achievable and challenging way, all the way to 2050 – that we stick to them, that we measure our impact, and that we inspire our customers. So beyond B Corp, our aim is to keep developing ourselves to be a better company and better for everyone.”
— Joanna Gluzman, Chief Sustainability Officer at PZ Cussons

3,000

inspired employees

5

B Corp Assessments completed, spanning 4 continents

4

detailed Improvement Plans

24

different brands globally

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