There is a good chance that you have many Newell Brands in your kitchen, bedroom, and office. Most of the brands are known for their high quality and being indestructible.

From the Newell Brands website, “Newell Brands is focused on delighting consumers by lighting up everyday moments. We are a leading global consumer goods company with a strong portfolio of well-known brands, including Rubbermaid, Sharpie, Graco, Coleman, Rubbermaid Commercial Products, Yankee Candle, Paper Mate, FoodSaver, Dymo, EXPO, Elmer’s, Oster, NUK, Spontex and Campingaz.” 

We have a Graco stroller that has traveled many thousands of miles transporting my three kids. Our Rubbermaid tubs have yet to see the upper end of their weight carrying capacity. They are great for their purposes and I would highly recommend them. 

That being said, I was surprised when I read the description of their products and engineering processes on the Newell Brand’s corporate governance page on their website. They talked about renewability, ecosystem regeneration, anaerobic digestion, and reuse/remanufacturing. All those things are awesome and I hope that it is all true. Below is a product life cycle chart they use.

I didn’t understand how the ultra durable, indestructible, really well made Newell products I am familiar with fit into this diagram. I don’t think my stroller will be or can be recycled. I think it will follow the red arrow right out the top of the diagram to the landfill. It made me wonder if the environmental strategy is just lip service or is it an actual priority?

Newell Brands 10-Q

I went looking for answers in the Newell Brands 10-Q released on October 27, 2023. I thought for sure I could just skip straight to the corporate governance priorities by searching for the word “environment”. WRONG. “Environment” appeared 19 times in the document but 17 of them were in the litigation section. Newell has earmarked $36 million for the remediation of contaminated manufacturing sites. The remaining uses of the word “environment” occurred when referencing the current economic environment.

This isn’t really a fair indictment of Newell. Pointing out the lack of use of a single word doesn’t really mean they don’t take the use of that word seriously. Afterall, they did announce a “New Business Strategy” last quarter and discussed that at length in the 10-Q. There must be some mention of corporate governance in the new strategy, right?

Here is a list of the 3 new initiatives written in businessy gobbly gook:

• Project Ovid – Optimize the Newell’s distribution network by creating a single integrated supply chain from 23 business-unit-centric supply chains. This will reduce administrative complexity, improve inventory and invoicing workflow, and enhance product availability for consumers.
• Network Optimization Project – Improve the company’s cost structure and operating margins while maintaining focus on customer and consumer fulfillment. They will do this by reducing the number of distribution centers, optimization of distribution by location, and use automation to streamline cost structures. This will cost $30-40 million.
• Project Phoenix – Simplify the organizational structure, streamline the real estate portfolio, centralize the supply chain functions, and reduce overhead costs. This will result in the reduction of headcount.

These are good business initiatives. Newell should do all of these things. When they do these things the company will make more money. However, the company will not be better stewards of the environment. 

Conclusion

I love it when companies make money. It is better when they make lots and lots of money making really great products that are indestructible. Having an indestructible stroller has been very helpful while I push my children around in it. Great job Newell Brands.

I don’t like it when they pretend that their awesome indestructible products are going to somehow get recycled into other useful products. Just tell the truth! The value proposition is still compelling enough to sell all the strollers you can make. There must be other ways to mitigate their environmental impact? Let me know in the comments if you can think of any.