Colgate-Palmolive – Cecilia Coates – 2018

Goals

Colgate-Palmolive, a global consumer products company focused on household, health care and personal care products, asked EDF Climate Corps fellow Cecilia Coates to analyze energy reduction opportunities at its global manufacturing facilities. She was also tasked with developing a roadmap that would help them set 2025 Context Based Water Goals.

Solutions

The Global Energy Reduction Team at Colgate had data from multiple Energy Treasure Hunts, but they had not yet analyzed which project types might provide the best return on investment. After analyzing the data, Coates’ came up with a list of “Top 10 Energy Actions” that would provide large energy reductions in short payback periods and were relevant to most of Colgate’s manufacturing sites. Her recommended actions span a range of categories including Compressed Air and HVAC, and a range of themes from Retrofits to Control Strategies.

To aid in Context Based Water Goal setting, Cecilia provided data on WRI Aqueduct water stress scores and current water consumption across the value chain and collaborated with the Mint Industry Research Council to start tracking water metrics annually. She also analyzed water usage at Colgate’s manufacturing facilities located in areas of water scarcity, and water used by consumers worldwide.

Potential Impact

If implemented by all of Colgate’s manufacturing facilities, Coates’ list of actions represents a potential 66,000 to 123,000 MWh in energy savings and an average payback period of 1 year. This represents a 4% to 7% reduction in their total manufacturing energy consumption.