It has only been about two hundred years since humans discovered the bacteria and viruses that cause illness. In that time, keeping clean has become recognized as the most important part of staying healthy.
Tuomas Yrjölä, President Global Brand, Innovation and Sustainability at Essity, says that an awareness of hygiene has had a huge effect on society:
“Life expectancy is longer than it's ever been, the global population and urbanization are growing, life expectations and standards are as high as they've ever been. This means that the needs for great hygiene and health will ever increase going forward.”
Essity is a leading global health and hygiene company that employs over 45,000 people and operates in over 150 countries. Almost all of the company’s leading brands in health and hygiene are either first or second largest in their field. Anke Renz, Global VP R&D, Personal Care at Essity says that the company’s products play an important role at improving well-being at all stages of life:
“It starts with diapers in the early stages, then moving to menstrual products as the consumer enters puberty and then to incontinence products, after birth or in the later stages of life. We also have products that are relevant throughout the entire life, like toilet paper tissue, or medical products for injuries. So we cover a very wide range of consumer needs, which is challenging, but it's also very rewarding to know you can make a positive difference across all these life stages.”
As new technologies open possibilities, Essity is striving to become more sustainable and digital. Yrjölä explains one such initiative:
“Tena SmartCare is a reusable sensor, which we attach to the incontinence product. It tells you, with data to a phone or an app, when to change the product. While this may sound simple, actually it drives significant benefits, both for the user and the caretaker, as well as driving sustainability.”
Donato Giorgio, President Global Supply Chain at Essity, says that the company has seen a number of sustainability breakthroughs in the last two years, including a mill that uses wheat straw to produce paper and an oil substitute:
“In Lilla Edet, Sweden, we have the world’s first fossil fuel free mill, and this is a very important breakthrough example of how we will transform this industry in a disruptive way. We will be the absolute leaders in the world to set the new standard for hygiene products in a carbon neutral world.”
With Lilla now the first tissue site to be fossil CO2 emission free, Essity is showing the way forward for the rest of the industry. Anna Bodowsky, Vice President Public Affairs at Essity says that the company has a responsibility to make the world a better place by any means at its disposal:
“Partnership is key. Some of the areas where we work together with others is for example, in the area of hygiene and health. We have worked for some years with the World Health Organization in the area of infection control in healthcare and basic hand hygiene, to avoid any spread of diseases. At UNICEF Mexico, we are addressing the knowledge and education and access for schoolchildren to learn more about hygiene and have safe places to wash hands. UNICEF and Essity have together developed manuals and education and materials so that the kids, the schools and parents are being trained and it's built into the education system.”
Tuomas Yrjölä believes that the future of the company is bright, with more awareness of the role that hygiene plays in long-term health:
“I am convinced that with Essity our well-being will be managed in a better way. And if we look into the future we expect that we will go a lot more into preventive health and hygiene. The future will be much more digitally enabled, much more personalized as a consequence and much more sustainable.”
For Donato Giorgio, sustainability and working locally are the principles that will enable better health to be promoted across the world:
“We have the knowledge, the culture, the innovative power to create the products and the processes of the future. Using locally available material, we can give even more hygienic products to the planet and particularly to many people around the planet that today, unfortunately do not have access to this type of product.”
