As a multinational company, The Wrigley Company has a long-standing commitment to environmental responsibility and leadership around the globe. We apply sound environmental practices throughout our business activities, with environmental consideration being an integral part of daily business.

The Wrigley Company has a long legacy of environmental conscientiousness. In 1933, in what may have been the first litter prevention campaign in the U.S., the company's second president Philip K. Wrigley began imprinting the advice to "use this wrapper to dispose of gum" on the label of every stick of gum manufactured. Today our packaging from around the world features either an illustration or wording describing the proper way to dispose of our product.

In Australia and New Zealand all point of sale materials also feature a gum disposal message

Our environmental commitment includes community involvement and affiliation with environmental organisations both locally, like Keep Australia Beautiful, and internationally.

School education programs

In Australia we are proud sponsors of a number of school education programs developed to engage children in responsible litter behaviour and environmental awareness, creating good habits for a lifetime.   Schools programs sponsored by Wrigley include:

	Waste Watchers NSW, a Keep Australia Beautiful NSW initiative
	Gum Litter Guardians - a waste education unit developed by Gould Group
	Waste Wise WA, an initiative of the WA Department of the Environment
	Green and Healthy Schools, an initiative of Keep Australia Beautiful, Qld
The Wrigley Company is working towards full national coverage for its sponsored schools program. Other Partnerships
	In Australia the Wrigley Company has also partnered with Keep South Australia Beautiful to undertake research to further our understanding of litter behaviour and develop communications strategies to effect behavioural change.
	In New Zealand the Wrigley Company has partnered with Keep New Zealand Beautiful.

Internationally Wrigley maintains affiliations with environmental organisations such as "Keep America Beautiful" as well as organisations such as Britain's EnCams organisation, which is responsible for the "Keep Britain Tidy" campaign.

Striving for Excellence in Environmental Management

Throughout our operations we regard compliance with the law as a minimum standard to be achieved. The Wrigley Company is among the few multinational confectionery manufacturers that maintain the same environmental, safety and health standards (ESH) at all factories, regardless of location. In fact, Wrigley standards are often more stringent than those of local governments.  

Our factory management systems and guidelines are based on the International Organisation for Standardisation’s (ISO) 14001 standard. The year 2004 marked a milestone for Wrigley when Wrigley Australia became one of the first Wrigley factories globally to become ISO 14001 certified. ISO 14001 is one of the world’s most widely recognised environmental management standards and this certification was a testament to Wrigley Australia’s environmental excellence.

The manufacture of chewing gum does not result in significant air or water pollution and contributes little to the waste streams. However in addition to striving for ISO 14001 certification, we continue to pursue innovative programs that help promote and deliver water conservation, energy conservation and waste reduction.

Wrigley Australia has been actively pursuing water conservation and energy conservation opportunities through the partnerships established with Sydney Water Corporation’s “Every Drop Counts Business Program” and the NSW Department of Energy, Utilities and Sustainability’s “Energy Smart Business Program”.  The results of these two programs have been impressive with substantial reductions in water and energy consumption.  Wrigley Australia was recently used as a positive water conservation case study by the Sydney Water Corporation in their promotion of responsible water use.

Waste minimisation is an important component of improving environmental performance as well as manufacturing efficiency. At our manufacturing plant, judicious recycling of paper, cardboard, wood, metal, plastic, food waste and e-waste, among other materials, has resulted in significant reductions in amount of waste that is sent to landfills.   

The Wrigley Company has also been a signatory to the National Packaging Covenant since 2001.  The National Packaging Covenant was developed in August 1999 by industry in conjunction with the Government. The aim of the Covenant is to provide more effective management of packaging based on the principles of "shared responsibility" and "product stewardship".

To date we have taken a number of steps to reduce the environmental impact of our products. Wrapping and packaging materials do play an essential role in ensuring the quality and freshness of Wrigley gum. Without compromising either, we constantly evaluate and make changes to current packaging materials and research alternative materials to meet future disposal and recycling requirements.

We also recognise that the environmental impacts of our processes and products extend to our supply chain, both directly through the materials and services provided to us by our suppliers and contractors, and indirectly through the environmental impacts of those suppliers and contractors themselves.

We provide employees with environmental information and training to encourage individual’s contribution towards environmental responsibilities.  This bottom-up approach encourages our employees to integrate environmental awareness into daily activities and to drive innovation for environmental improvement.

A Commitment to the Community

Community involvement projects are an essential part of the way we go about our business. Around the globe Wrigley associates respond to community needs through their collective and individual efforts.  In Australia these projects span everything from working with local schools to provide opportunities for students to learn about manufacturing operations and conservation principles to working with community development organisations.

Recognising access to education is important around the world, Wrigley Australia associates have worked together for a number of years with community development organisations in countries such as Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands to provide refurbished computer equipment from Wrigley sites.