Women
and
Hygiene
Th e SC A Hy gi e n e
matt e r s Re p ort 2011:
C h i n e se e d i ti on
1Women
and Hygiene
– The SCA Hygiene Matters Report 2011
2Foreword:
We care about women’s
hygiene needs
4Introduction:
forefront
7Chapter
identity
14
family
2: Women, hygiene and the
Focus: Sustainability
30
Chapter
society
36
1: Women, hygiene and
Focus: Incontinence care
18Chapter
26
Women at the hygiene
3: Women, hygiene and
Focus: Innovation
40Facts:
SCA at a glance
Women and Hygiene
– T he SCA H y g i e ne matt e r s Re p ort 2011
Through our series of Hygiene Matters Reports, we at SCA aim to raise
awareness of the connection between hygiene, health and wellbeing
among decision makers, experts and the general public around the
world. And at the same time contribute to a more knowledge-based
public debate that strengthens the possibility of improved hygiene for
women, men and children everywhere. In 2011, the Report’s focus is
on Women and Hygiene.
Underlying survey
The attitudinal survey underlying the 2011 Report, carried out in
November 2010, was commissioned by SCA and conducted by the
business-intelligence consulting firm United Minds and the research
company Cint. The survey was conducted in nine countries: Australia,
China, France, Germany, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Responses were compiled through a webbased survey, and a total of 7,000 persons participated. 500 women
and 250 men were surveyed in each market, except in Sweden where
500 women and 500 men took part. National quotas have been used
to obtain accurate age representation.
Chinese edition
This Chinese edition of the 2011 Report focuses on the underlying survey’s results in China, an important growth market for SCA’s hygiene
products and solutions in personal care and tissue. Please note, as the
Disclaimer below states, that since the content of this Report is based
on online surveys in nine countries, the content mirrors the attitudes of
the part of the respective population that has internet access. In China,
the overall internet penetration rate is about 30 percent, and mainly
used among the urban population. That does not mean, however, that
the survey results are necessarily invalid for the rest of the population,
but it is, nevertheless, important to keep this in mind. The content of
this Chinese edition is based on online responses of 250 men and 250
women.
Disclaimer
The survey has been carried out through the Cint Panel Exchange
system. National quotas have been used to obtain a representative distribution of sex and age. Results and conclusions from the survey are
only representative for that part of the respective market’s populations
with Internet access.
1
We care about women’s
hygiene needs
Shanghai, China, 2011
Welcome to SCA’s annual Hygiene Matters Report. This year, we focus
on “Women and Hygiene”, which is a subject close to our hearts, both
because of the important role women play in development throughout
the world, including in the hygiene area, and because the majority of
SCA’s hygiene products are used and bought by women. We are making a difference to people’s everyday lives – through women.
Around me, I see how values which define SCA as a global hygiene
leader and employer are mirrored in the public debate when it comes
to the right for hygiene and health, both in emerging and in more mature markets. That tells me that SCA is at the forefront of one of the
most important issues in the world today, in a position to contribute
not just to the practical needs and solutions we identify in many different societies, but to the shape of the discussion as a whole.
SCA especially cares about women’s needs and desires when it comes
to personal and intimate hygiene and preventive health for themselves
and their families. As the world’s third-largest hygiene company, with
sales in about 100 countries, we have consumers in so-called emerging markets – where inadequate hygiene standards are, in some cases,
a matter of life and death – as well as in more mature markets where
much higher hygiene standards are taken for granted, we have become
an important source of knowledge, research and expertise in this field.
Without a doubt, we live in an imperfect world – a fact that often
affects women and children the hardest.
However, women still play an under-utilized role as change agents and
sources of knowledge within hygiene and health in many countries. As
such, hygiene is a vital area where more focus and resources should
be devoted to women.
Women’s living conditions vary between countries, driven by diverse
societies, cultures, religions and economies. These differences affect a
woman’s empowerment and independence within her respective society.
2
I am proud of how SCA
has developed the
knowledge, experience
as well as the products
and solutions to make
everyday life for people
throughout the world a
bit better, a bit easier, a bit
healthier.
Ulf Söderström
President, SCA Asia Pacific
Nevertheless, our survey has revealed that despite this fact, women
the world over demonstrate a surprising number of similarities when
it comes to their needs, desires and behaviors around personal and
intimate hygiene and preventive health – both for themselves and for
their families.
By blending survey results and research findings with our extensive
knowledge in this report, we reveal new angles on women’s attitudes
and roles when it comes to understanding and improving personal and
intimate hygiene around the world.
In this Chinese edition of SCA’s 2011 Hygiene Matters Report, you can
read about how Chinese women share many of the same needs and
worries related to hygiene and preventive health for themselves and
their families with sisters in other countries around the world. Also,
this report shows how the broad and fast changes in China during
recent years have resulted in improved hygiene and preventive-health
standards for Chinese women, men and children.
I am proud of how SCA has developed the knowledge, experience as
well as the products and solutions to make everyday life for people
throughout the world a bit better, a bit easier, a bit healthier. SCA has
a long history of capturing and developing customer and consumer
insights in a clear, simple and straightforward way. Thus, we are able
to develop our products and solutions for ever more people around
the globe – women, men and children of all ages. Our work continues.
Ulf Söderström
President, SCA Asia Pacific
3
Women at
the hygiene
forefront
WOMEN at t h e hyg i e ne f or e f r ont
SCA Hygiene Report 2011
WOMEN AS CHANGE AGENTS
T
he The Hygiene Matters Report is an SCA initiative,
now in its third year, which aims to raise awareness
on the connection between hygiene, health and wellbeing around the world. The mission of the project is
simple, that ‘no one, disregarding sex, age, or where
they live, should have to suffer physically or mentally
due to insufficient hygiene’.
One of the greatest issues confronting humanity at this time is world
hygiene. Many agencies, both governmental and independent, and
countless individuals throughout the world work tirelessly to improve
standards of hygiene everywhere. And it would be simplistic to suggest
that there can be any easy answers or solutions.
However, in commissioning and compiling any report concerning hygiene and its connection to preventive health in the world today, it
is essential to acknowledge the pivotal role women play in improving hygiene standards the world over, regardless of culture, society or
economic conditions.
Therefore, it makes perfect sense to focus this year’s report specifically
on women; their role, influence, attitudes and importance regarding hygiene and preventive health on a personal, household and societal level.
Similarities across borders
In the results of our surveys there are many threads of commonality, similarity and unanimity in the attitudes people have regarding
hygiene across the span of the nine countries. In focusing this year
on women, we have reaffirmed a universal and timeless truth about
women’s role in families.
Culture and geography may determine what women expect from life,
but make remarkably little difference to what they want. Women take
the largest share of responsibility for hygiene in the family. They worry
about personal hygiene more than men, spend more time on it, are the
main buyers of personal and domestic hygiene products for their families and are more concerned about hygiene on behalf of their children.
5
Women play a crucial role as change
agents in the developing world
when they are placed at the centre
of decisions about water supply,
sanitation and hygiene promotion
programmes and activities.
The effects of both improved service
provision and better knowledge
about hygiene are felt throughout
the wider community, most obviously through improved general health
and quality of life.
At the same time, there are more
subtle effects of these measures on
the lives of women, such as greater
confidence, increased capacity to
earn money, and the fact that women are likely to be healthier, happier
and have more time to concentrate
on making the home a better place
in which to live. Again, ultimately,
what is good for women is good for
the family and the whole community,
who share the benefit from all these
improvements.
Source: “For her it’s the big issue: Putting
women at the centre of water supply, sanitation and hygiene, ”Water Supply and Sanitation
Collaborative Council (WSSCC), Gender and
Water Alliance (GWA), Water, Engineering and
Development Centre (WEDC) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2006
WOMEN at t h e hyg i e ne f or e f r ont
Also, for the present, women remain the most important source of advice, information, education and good example on matters of hygiene
and preventive health within families.
Women as change agents
As economies develop, societies do so with them, and concerns as fundamental as hygiene and preventive health move from being a luxury
of both finance and time that few can attain to being a definite aspiration, then a need, then an assumed right.
This progression from aspiration to assumption follows a remarkably
similar curve, regardless of cultural differences. It is driven primarily
by women, who are not only more concerned and informed about
hygiene matters than men, but are also overwhelmingly the ones who
drive up hygiene standards as and how they can.
Women are, therefore, a fundamental and essential cornerstone of any
discussion about hygiene on a personal, household and societal level.
In other words, put women first and they will drive up standards of
hygiene everywhere.
“Culture and geography
may determine what
women expect from life,
but make remarkably little
difference to what they
want.”
6
Women,
hygiene
and identity
7
WOMEN , HYGIENE A ND IDEN T I T Y
Hygiene and human dignity
Hygiene is normal, routine, constant, habitual. Its many rituals punctuate our days, hardly noticed, its products are as basic to our shopping lists as food. Mostly we do not think about it, we assume it. It is
part of the bedrock of what we are, of how we see ourselves, of our
self-image, our self-esteem, of our dignity.
According to our nine-country survey, for women, personal hygiene
ranks above the clothes they wear, the food they consume and the
homes they inhabit in their order of priorities. Young women particularly spend more time on personal hygiene, worry about it more and
are more likely to be embarrassed about their personal hygiene than
any other group.
Time and worry
It would appear that as economies develop, people spend more time
on hygiene. 80% of Chinese spend more time on personal hygiene
now than they did a decade ago, two thirds of Mexicans, almost six
in ten Russians.
80%
of Chinese people surveyed spend more time on
personal hygiene today
then they did 10 years ago
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SCA Hygiene Report 2011:
nine countries
Spend more time on personal hygiene today than 10 years ago
Would you say that you spend
more or less time on your personal
hygiene today than you did 10 years
ago?
China 80% China
62% Mexico
57% Russia
Among Chinese, this time increase is more or less equally distributed
between women and men: 81% of Chinese women spend more time
on hygiene today than 10 years ago; and 78% of Chinese men do.
46% Germany
43% France
31% U.S.
30% Australia
29% U.K.
23% Sweden
At the same time, Mexicans and Chinese worry markedly more than
the other countries surveyed about illness as a direct consequence of
personal hygiene. Perhaps because both these countries have experienced influenza-pandemic scares during the last few years.
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32
48
64
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51% of Chinese respondents worry often or always about becoming
ill due to a lack of hygiene. Chinese women (53%) are somewhat more
w ried than Chinese men (49%) within this context.
“51% of Chinese respondents worry often or
always about becoming ill
due to a lack of hygiene.
Chinese women (53%)
are somewhat more worried than Chinese men
(49%) within this context.”
Daily problems in emerging markets
It is to be expected, perhaps, that hygiene is a more immediate concern,
and poses more problems on a day-to-day basis in emerging rather
than in more mature markets. The same three countries with the greatest worries concerning health and hygiene – Mexico, China and Russia
– show a higher degree of unease than the others when asked whether
either money, living situation, time or knowledge are problems connected to personal hygiene. A clear majority of Mexicans surveyed cite
all four as major problems, whilst over two thirds of Chinese see their
living situation as a problem and over half of Russians say that money
is a serious concern related to personal hygiene.
At the other end of the scale, the relatively small numbers of respondents who see knowledge of hygiene as a problem in the USA, the UK,
Germany, Australia and Sweden points to populations satisfied in general terms with how informed they are on hygiene issues.
“About two thirds of
Chinese see their
living situation and lack of
knowledge as the biggest
problems in their daily
lives related to personal
hygiene.”
‘Contentment curve’
This would appear to lend weight to the thesis that there is a ‘contentment curve’ on hygiene matters that correlates closely to the economic
development of countries. As countries develop, people spend more
time and money on personal hygiene and become comfortable about
hygiene matters. Often, as populations or parts of populations rise
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SCA Hygiene Report 2011:
nine countries
Daily concerns of personal hygiene
What issues linked to personal hygiene do you
experience as the biggest problems in your daily life?
MONEY
29% U.S.
22% U.K.
51% Russia
63% Mexico
48% France
48% China
36% Germany
30% Australia
20% Sweden
0
16
32
48
64
80
living situation
time
13% U.S.
11% U.K.
40% Russia
54% Mexico
37% France
67% China
26% Germany
16% Australia
9% Sweden
21% U.S.
20% U.K.
45% Russia
58% Mexico
42% France
56% China
24% Germany
25% Australia
15% Sweden
0
16
32
48
64
80
9
0
16
knowledge
32
48
64
9% U.S.
11% U.K.
34% Russia
54% Mexico
32% France
62% China
14% Germany
13% Australia
8% Sweden
80 0
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WOMEN , HYGIENE A ND IDEN T I T Y
along this ‘contentment curve’, their hygiene concerns more and more
start focusing on wellbeing and appearance, which, in turn, create
needs for new products and solutions.
Although even in more mature markets, with a high prevalence of
hygiene facilities and products, local or temporary anxieties about
hygiene continue to cause significant levels of unease. During the last
few years, we have seen how health scares such as the so-called bird
flu and swine flu have affected hygiene-related attitudes and behaviors
in both emerging and mature markets.
Wellbeing – a universal aspiration
An overall majority of respondents across all nine countries stress
wellbeing and feeling fresh and good about themselves, as opposed
to staying healthy and avoiding infection, as the most important part
of personal hygiene. This finding indicates that hygiene is to a large
degree considered to be a matter of self-esteem.
59%
of all Women surveyed consider ‘wellbeing’ the most
important dimension of personal hygiene
The meaning of personal
hygiene
What is the most important aspect of
personal hygiene for you personally?
Female
Male
Wellbeing, feeling fresh and good about myself
59%
51%
According to our survey, 55% of Chinese respondents overall view
wellbeing as the most important dimension of personal hygiene,
whereas 40% say staying healthy is most important and only 6% say
social acceptance is most important.
However, there is a substantial difference between Chinese men and
women within this context: Chinese men view wellbeing more important (62%) than women (48%); whereas Chinese women (47%) view
staying healthy more important than men (32%).
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SCA Hygiene Report 2011:
nine countries
Staying healthy and avoiding infection
33%
38%
Social acceptance and feeling at ease
in my interactions with other people
8%
11%
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32
48
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SCA Hygiene Report 2011
It is worth noting, however, that a sense of wellbeing is closely associated with quality of life, and is therefore a relative and subjective
concept, liable to be interpreted and experienced differently in different societies.
Hygiene, identity and dignity
It has been established earlier that hygiene and feelings of wellbeing
are closely correlated, and that wellbeing, although necessarily a difficult concept to quantify, is closely linked to self-image, self-esteem
and one’s sense of individual identity.
A public-health problem as common as urinary incontinence, for instance, remains a taboo subject in almost every culture, despite its
devastating effect not just on one’s physical wellbeing, but on one’s
psychological self-image.
It is not surprising, therefore, that a sense of the essential privacy and
dignity of being able to care for one’s personal hygiene is what most
alarms people about growing old, or becoming physically handicapped.
By far the largest proportion of both women and men in the nine coun-
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80
INCONTINENCE: THE LAST
SOCIAL TABOO
“I think we have made good
progress during the past 10 – 20
years in reducing the social taboo
surrounding incontinence. Products
are now advertised on television and
the Internet and this obviously has
helped to break this taboo. However, I
am afraid there is still a lot to do regarding incontinence, a condition that
will after all affect many of us in some
way or another in our lifetime, and
is just as much a serious healthcare
problem as asthma, raised cholesterol
or depression.”
Source: Ian Milsom, professor of Obstetrics and
Gynecology at Sahlgrenska Academy, University
of Gothenburg, Sweden, Chair of TENA’s biannual Global Forum on Incontinence.
25%
Share of women over
35 who experience
urine leakage at some
point in their life
(Men: 5%)
Source: Abrams, P et al, incontinence, 4th
International Consultation on Incontinence,
4th edition 2009
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SCA Hygiene Report 2011:
nine countries
Being able to care for your
own personal hygiene
Imagine a situation where you were
not capable of caring for yourself
(Because of old age, physical
handicap etc.).
What of the following would be
worst for you? Not being able to:
personal hygiene is a matter of dignity
Female
Male
“Among Chinese women respondents, not being able to
go to the toilet on one’s own (69%), and not being able
to care for one’s personal hygiene (66%), is what worries
them most about growing old or becoming physically
handicapped.”
Go to the toilet on my own
84%
82%
Care for my personal hygiene
78%
68%
tries surveyed cite not being able to go to the toilet unaided and not
being able to care for their own personal hygiene as their two worst
fears, far ahead of other concerns such as leaving home, dressing and
preparing food on one’s own.
Leave my home by myself
24%
30%
Choose my own clothing and dress myself
32%
29%
38%
Prepare my own food
Among Chinese women respondents, not being able to go to the toilet
on one’s own (69%), and not being able to care for one’s personal
hygiene (66%), is what worries them most about growing old or becoming physically handicapped. For Chinese men, these figures are
62% and 64%, respectively.
15%
20%
Take care of my 51%
own home
20%
19%
It is interesting to note that these Chinese figures are the lowest among
the nine countries surveyed. Perhaps there are partly cultural and social explanations for this – the Chinese society still holds on to certain
attitudes and behaviors concerning intergenerational living, in-home
care, respect for the elderly and dignity in old age that have been forgotten or suppressed in many other cultures. As a result of this, the
Choose what music/TV/books
I consume myself
8%
10%
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WOMEN , HYGIENE A ND IDEN T I T Y
Chinese are less worried about not being able to take care of their own
personal hygiene due to old age or handicap.
Perhaps China will change within this context as the economy and
work patterns continue to develop, and become even more like more
mature markets. How this might affect in which manner Chinese people will take care of their elderly in the future remains to be seen.
Hygiene and social interaction
According to our nine-country survey, women spend, on average, three
quarters of an hour a day on personal hygiene, twelve minutes more
than men. 94% of women would feel uncomfortable in a social situation if they had not brushed their teeth, over 88% of men. More
women worry about not having washed their hair, in fact, than men
worry about brushing their teeth. In almost every respect women are
more concerned about the effect of personal hygiene in social situations than men, the sole exception being the primarily masculine concern of not having shaved.
Our survey shows that Chinese women spend 13 minutes more on
their daily personal hygiene than do Chinese men: Chinese women
spend an average of 49 minutes on their personal hygiene daily, while
Chinese men spend 36 minutes.
Menstruation still a stigma
In terms of social discomfort, it is surprising that old taboos about
such a natural and cyclical physical function as menstruation still persist in much of the world. In seven of the nine countries surveyed,
12
“Our survey shows that
Chinese women spend
13 minutes more on their
daily personal hygiene
than do Chinese men:
Chinese women spend
an average of 49 minutes
on their personal hygiene
daily, while Chinese men
spend 36 minutes.”
87%
menstruation makes the majority of women surveyed feel socially uncomfortable.
Indeed, almost nine in ten women in China (87%) feel uncomfortable in social situations when they have their period, three quarters in
Mexico, and two thirds of French women.
of Chinese women surveyed experience social discomfort when
they have their period
Also, overall the survey shows that women with higher education feel
more socially uncomfortable when they have their period than women
with less formal education. For instance, as many as 96% of Chinese
women with a post-graduate degree feel socially uncomfortable during menstruation.
Menstruation causes social
discomfort
Only in Australia and Sweden do fewer than half of the respondents
consider it a cause of unease for them in social situations, with Swedish
women showing the least concern, at little more than a quarter.
Would the following make you feel
uncomfortable in a social situation?
Base: “Having my period” – very
uncomfortable OR uncomfortable
Younger women are key
China
Young women are also more insecure about being in social situations when they are menstruating than older women are. And as we
shall see in the following chapter, young women are more unsure
and worried about hygiene information and products than men or
older women.
In fact, it would be fair to conclude that personal hygiene is a primary concern for young women, whereas for men and older women
it is, in the main, secondary or even tertiary. In that sense young
women are probably more receptive to good information and good,
affordable hygiene products than any other group, because personal
hygiene is inextricably entwined with their sense of identity.
And then they have children and their focus widens – which is a
main topic of the following chapter.
13
87% China
73% Mexico
69% France
If one was to identify a single group for whom, irrespective of culture
or geography, personal hygiene is of paramount importance, young
women would stand out
According to our nine-country survey, this gender difference is especially marked when one looks at young women. In the age group
between 15–25, women spend on average 51 minutes of their day
on their personal hygiene, fully quarter of an hour more than men
the same age, and twelve minutes more than women over fifty-six.
In common with young men, young women are appreciably more
worried than older people that they will contract illnesses due to
bad hygiene and are more embarrassed about hygiene in social situations than any other age group.
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SCA Hygiene Report 2011:
nine countries
52% Germany
52% Russia
51% U.K.
50% U.S.
47% Australia
26% Sweden
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FOCU S : INC ON T INEN CE CA RE
Increasing incontinence sufferers’
quality of life and sense of dignity
With a share of the Chinese population older than 60
years approaching 200 million, there is a rapidly growing need for urinary incontinence-care products and
solutions for home as well as healthcare use. At any
given point in time, there are tens of millions of Chinese adults who suffer from incontinence, a tabooridden medical condition with many physical and psychological effects.
SCA offers incontinence-care products and solutions
for both home and healthcare use – which improve
physical as well as psychological wellbeing for those
who suffer from adult urinary incontinence. For
SCA, the overriding objective is to raise the quality of life and restore a sense of dignity through its
TENA brand to the many Chinese adults affected by
incontinence.
SCA’s incontinence-care brand TENA is number one
in the world with sales in more than 100 countries,
including China. In order to increase access to incontinence care, SCA is very much in favor of sharing its
world-class knowledge and expertise to reach out to
more sufferers in China, women and men, rural and
urban.
Improved quality of life is everybody’s right
One way this is done is by letting Chinese healthcare
professionals capitalize on TENA’s expertise through
an injection from its knowledge bank – so that more
incontinence sufferers’ lives will be a bit easier, healthier and more comfortable. At the same time, it will take
at least some of the burden off the shoulders of family
members and other caretakers.
TENA, SCA’s global incontinence-care brand with
a 25 percent market share, was launched in China
in 2009. Through TENA, SCA has knowledge and
expertise accumulated and refined from over 20,000
healthcare institutions around the world during the
past 40 years.
14
Many more of us than we might think suffer from
incontinence. As many as 25 percent of women and
5 percent of men over the age of 35 suffer from urine
leakage for shorter or longer periods of time, most
often in complete silence due the social taboos attached to this very uncomfortable medical condition.
This means that there are tens of millions of Chinese
adults who suffer from life-limiting incontinence at
any given point in time.
But it does not have to be this way, however. There
are tailor-made products that alleviate the problem
readily available on the market.
Daniel Huang, SCA’s Regional Director for Incontinence
Care in China, explains:
“For us working at SCA, our aim is to improve people’s quality of everyday life through our hygiene
products – no matter if they live in a rich or poor
country, or in an urban or rural area. As far as we
are concerned, good-quality hygiene is everybody’s
Daniel Huang, SCA’s Regional Director for
Incontinence Care and the TENA brand in China.
right. And as we reach out to more Chinese with our
products and solutions each and every day, we feel
proud to contribute to raising the hygiene standards
in different parts of the country.“
Restoring a sense of dignity
An intimate medical condition such as adult urinary
incontinence is closely linked to almost life-turning
experiences when sufferers get the help they so desperately need. It is both about improving quality of
life and restoring as sense of dignity.
Daniel Huang elaborates further:
“Based on our vast experience from other countries
around the world, we at SCA know that increased
access to incontinence-care products in China will
change large groups of people’s lives dramatically
from one day to the next by offering security, comfort, discretion and odor control that they have never experienced before.“
Simply put, SCA’s TENA products enable users to
restore their sense of dignity – which gives them
the necessary confidence to leave their homes, go to
work, take part in social activities and lead a full
and satisfying life without having to worry about
leaking bodily fluids.
Generous knowledge sharing
Traditionally in China, it is the younger generations
that take care of the elderly in their families. The
vast majority of elderly lives, and will most probably continue to live, with their families in the foreseeable future.
Since family members in many cases bring their
questions about incontinence to healthcare providers, SCA realized early on that there is a considerable
need for incontinence-care training among healthcare professionals. Thus, the knowledge-sharing issue was already addressed in conjunction with the
launch of SCA’s TENA offering in China in 2009.
Daniel Huang explains:
“In China, many people turn to healthcare providers for advice about incontinence, which gives professional healthcare employees a key role. There is a
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FOCU S : INC ON T INEN CE CA RE
broad spectrum of areas in need of competence development such as incontinent-related diseases, preventive treatment and available solutions. Providing
products is only one factor in this large equation, so
we decided to give relevant healthcare professionals
an expertise injection from our knowledge bank.”
Now, two years later, SCA’s knowledge sharing is
successfully carried out on two, complementary levels to key healthcare professionals: an incontinencecare training program for hospital nurses, and
healthcare-management competence development
for directors of nursing homes, called the TENA Institution Director Forum
Nurses training supports taboo breaking
Hospital nurses are a key group to train, not least
since the social taboos attached to incontinence are
so great in China. This fact has been confirmed by
TENA through the training program for nurses during the last two years – since it has contributed to an
increased dialogue with the elderly and their caretakers, often younger family members, a development which contributes to breaking the taboos.
Daniel Huang goes on to explain:
“One of our several objectives is to break the taboos associated with adult incontinence through
increased knowledge and understanding. This is an
important step forward on the road towards an improved quality of life for many more incontinence
sufferers in China.”
But taboo breaking is only one focus area, however.
TENA’s training program for hospital nurses also
16
includes other incontinence-related topics such as
pathology, treatment, impact, caring, epidemiological survey and skin care.
Since this training program was launched back in
the fall of 2009, it has been carried out at hospitals
in 12 Chinese cities, including Guangzhou, Shanghai and Nanjing. By late 2010, almost 5,000 nurses
from 1,100 different hospitals had participated in
the program.
There are plans to expand this successful training
program to other regions in the country. If the program is implemented throughout China, more than
200,000 nurses will be trained during the next few
years.
Directors of nursing homes
and incontinence-care management
Another key target group for SCA’s ongoing knowledge sharing in China is directors of nursing homes.
Daniel Huang explains:
“We are also building a knowledge-sharing network
of directors of nursing homes, who share the same
vision as SCA and our TENA brand when it comes
to top-quality, incontinence-care management. We
have several objectives in common: to break the social taboos together, to increase the quality of life
as well as to restore a sense of dignity to the many
millions of adult incontinence sufferers in China.”
This knowledge-sharing network is called the TENA
Institution Director Forum, and it was launched in
the spring of 2011 in Beijing and Shanghai. In to-
The recently launched game-changing, innovative
product ‘TENA Belt’ was developed by SCA after having invested a lot of time by observing Chinese incontinence patients and their habits. This new product uses
less material, has increased breathability and provides
more dignity for the patients as well as less of a burden
for caregivers. And it takes up the traditional Chinese
way of using a belt with a pad.
TENA’s first two years
in China
SCA’s test launch for adult urinary
incontinence care began in 2009, when the
TENA brand was introduced in southern China.
The products are now also available in eastern
and northen parts of the country. The launch
has been a success, especially in southern
China, where TENA has developed into one of
the most successful brands in cities such as
Guangzhou and Shenzhen. It is estimated that
by 2050 there will be about 440 million Chinese over 60 years old, equal to a third of the
population.
tal, more than 180 institution directors participated
at the two conferences. Led by two European academic experts, a number different incontinence-related case studies and viewpoints were shared and
discussed during the conferences, including future
challenges, quality management, risk management
and dementia care.
Facts about incontinence
Urinary incontinence is a common condition
which affects both men and women in different
life stages. About 25 percent of women over 35
experience incontinence at some time in their
life. Around 10 percent have regular problems
and the number increases with age. One main
reason for female incontinence is the weakening of the pelvic-floor muscles which can occur
due to pregnancy and childbirth. Around five
percent of men experience urinary incontinence
and the figure rises to close to 20 percent
among elderly men. Risk factors for men are
infections, prostatectomy (removal of the prostate) and age itself (there is a greater increase
in the prevalence of incontinence in ageing men
than there is in ageing women). In later years of
life, incontinence can be caused in both men
and women by other conditions such as stroke
or senile dementia.
Daniel Huang concludes:
“The benefits of using top-quality incontinence-care
products and solutions from SCA were also presented during the conferences. The nursing homes directors were interested in learning more about TENA’s
reality-based results – and how our products and
solutions support psychological and physical wellbeing among elderly incontinence sufferers, reduce
staff workload and lower total costs. That is what I
would call a win-win scenario.
17
Women,
hygiene and
the family
18
WOMEN , HYGIENE A ND T HE FA MILY
Women at the heart of familiy hygiene
According to our nine-country survey, the family is the principle place
where hygiene information is disseminated and learnt, and how mothers are at the core of that process.
77%
of all mothers surveyed
consider personal hygiene
to be the most important
part of bringing up their
children
Motherhood concentrates women’s natural predisposition towards
maintaining their own personal hygiene, whilst also refocusing it onto
the habits and values of their children, and the immediate environment
their families inhabit, as long as that environment can be controlled,
maintained and improved.
?
SCA Hygiene Report 2011:
nine countries
According to our survey, the moment when the perspective of that
feminine instinct for cleanliness shifts from personal to collective is
when they have a child.
Hygiene – the most important
part of upbringing
Think about how you bring up
(or brought up) your children,
how important would you say the
following are (were)?
Families look after the hygiene of their own, and mothers are the hub
of families. Therefore, women’s importance within the hygiene and
preventive-health context cannot be overstated.
Base: Very important
Personal hygiene and upbringing
Women
Men
Of all the concerns that parents stress in terms of their children’s upbringing, personal hygiene ranks highest, according to our international survey. As a whole, women stress the importance of children’s
personal hygiene more than men do.
Personal hygiene (such as wasing their hands,
staying clean etc.)
77%
69%
Chinese parents consider personal hygiene to be the most important
part of upbringing: 71% say that personal hygiene is very important.
More Chinese women (74%) than men (66%) consider personal hygiene to be the most importan part of bringing up their children.
Good manners
70%
61%
Physical activity and eating and drinking right
57%
52%
Working hard in school
53%
54%
38%
Forming social
relationships
Traditions
49%
41%
51%
23%
19%
Religion or faith
18%
15%
0
19
16
32
48
64
80
?
SCA Hygiene Report 2011:
nine countries
Motherhood and its effects on
personal hygiene
Think about when you had your
first child. Can you remember what
effects it had on your personal
hygiene habits?
I started to wash my hands more often
54%
I became more cautious of the hygiene
products I bought for our household
52%
I became more cautious of and
sensitive to hygiene deficiencies
in my surroundings
37%
I became more sensitive to other
people’s personal hygiene (or lack
thereof)
35%
I became more cautious of the
personal hygiene products I bought
for myself
31%
Among Chinese parents, personal hygiene is considered more important than good manners, working hard in school, exercising, forming
relationships, traditions or religion.
I spent more time on my personal
hygiene
26%
I spent less time on my personal
hygiene
Birth of first child turning point
For young women, a turning point in their lives would appear to be the
birth of their first child. Not only do they become more aware of their
own personal hygiene, but they also focus more on hygiene standards
around them. Over half start to wash their hands more often and
become more cautious about the sort of hygiene products they buy
for their households. Over a third admits to becoming more aware of
deficient hygiene standards around them in their daily lives, and to an
increased caution about which hygiene products they use themselves.
Our international nine-country survey shows that these figures are
even more marked in growth markets such as China, Mexico and
Russia, and more still amongst young mothers, particularly ones in
more mature markets, who change their habits more radically than
any other group, or than older mothers remember doing.
20
16%
0
16
32
48
64
?
80
SCA Hygiene Report 2011:
nine countries
Speaking to mothers and
fathers about personal hygiene
Have you ever discussed your personal
hygiene or related problems with any of
the following people?
MotherFather
Men27%15%
Women42%
6%
WOMEN , HYGIENE A ND T HE FA MILY
Our survey shows that the birth of the first child brings great changes
to Chinese women’s personal hygiene:
• 74% become more cautious of the household hygiene products
they buy
• 63% start washing their hands more often
• 60% became more cautious of and sensitive to hygiene
deficiencies in their surroundings
• 49% start spending more time on their personal hygiene
• 48% became more sensitive to other people’s personal hygiene (or
lack thereof)
Hand washing tops the list
Just as personal hygiene is considered the most important part of upbringing, hand washing is the most fundamental aspect of hygiene.
It is universal for parents to nag their children about washing their
hands after visiting the toilet, only marginally less so to insist on hand
washing before eating.
According to our international nine-country survey, however, the degree of importance placed on hand washing as an aspect of children’s
health differs significantly in different cultures. Around three in ten
respondents in China (32%) and Mexico (29%) see it as the most
important aspect of their children’s health, as opposed to little more
than one in ten in Sweden (11%) and the UK (13%).
This again points to a more relaxed, less insistent attitude to personal
hygiene in more developed economies, where good health is more an
assumption than an aspiration. Although, as we have seen before, this
conclusion is at least partially offset by the relatively strong emphasis
placed on hand washing in the USA (23%) and Australia (23%), and
the low emphasis placed on it by Russians (14%).
“Amongst parents in our ninecountry survey, the possibility
of their children contracting an
illness is by far their greatest
concern regarding their personal
hygiene, over 40% citing it as
their main worry. In China, this
figure is 74%, which is high
above average for the countries
surveyed. Chinese mothers
(76%) are a bit more concerned
than fathers (71%) in this regard.”
?
SCA Hygiene Report 2011:
nine countries
Parents worries connected to
their children’s personal hygiene
To what extent do you worry about the
following aspects of your children’s
personal hygiene and health?
Mothers
Fathers
That they will be infected with disease.
42%
40%
Parents link hygiene with health
That their personal hygiene (or lack
thereof) will negatively affect their
confidence and personal wellbeing.
Amongst parents in our nine-country survey, the possibility of their
children contracting an illness is by far their greatest concern regarding their personal hygiene, over 40% citing it as their main worry. In
China, this figure is 74%, which is high above average for the nine
countries surveyed.
25%
22%
That their personal hygiene (or lack
thereof) will negatively affect their
possibilities of38%
making friends.
24%
22%
Chinese mothers (76%) are a bit more concerned than fathers (71%)
in this regard.
The health risks with being overly
hygienic (e.g. developing allergies,
skin problems). 51%
Another question where Chinese parents score much higher than respondents in other countries is that they indicate that they would like
to talk more to their children about personal-hygiene issues; 66% of
Chinese parents would like to do that. The average for the nine countries surveyed is only 15%.
20%
17%
That other people will pass judgment
on me as a parent because of my
children’s personal hygiene.
18%
17%
Overall, a quarter of parents in the nine-country survey fears that lack
of personal hygiene will have a negative impact on their children’s
21
0
16
32
48
64
80
By having established a common, global
supplier standard for its hygiene businesses
around the world, SCA is transparent with its
commitment to corporate social responsibility
and sustainability: regarding its own production as well as when it comes to suppliers
and sub-suppliers.
www.sca.com/sustainability
self-confidence, wellbeing and social interactions. About one fifth of
all mothers are concerned about other people’s perception of them
as a result of their children’s personal hygiene. But close to the same
proportion, however, are concerned about the potential risks of their
children being overly hygienic – developing allergies and skin conditions, for example.
Women as primary hygiene consumers
In general women buy, or at least control, what products come into
their homes. According to our nine-country survey, in the overwhelming majority of households women buy hygiene-related products, with
a little over one in ten fathers buying most of the personal-hygiene
products for their children. This figure is a bit higher for Chinese men
even though it is still a relatively low number; about 20 % of Chinese
men buy most of the personal hygiene products for their children which means that 80 % of Chinese women still buy most of these
products in their households.
This female predominance continues in terms of shared responsibility
for buying hygiene products for the household. In seven of the nine
countries surveyed fewer than half the respondents could say that they
22
“About 20 % of Chinese
men buy most of the
personal hygiene products
for their children - which
means that 80 % of
Chinese women still buy
most of these products
in their households.”
WOMEN , HYGIENE A ND T HE FA MILY
?
SCA Hygiene Report 2011:
nine countries
Worries about harmful
hygiene products
Are you worried that the content
and material used in personal
hygiene products you buy will be
harmful?
To me
To my children
Mexico
50%
China
80%
51%
39%
Russia
35%
56%
48%
60%
France
21%
33%
Australia
and their partners share equal responsibility, although in an interesting
discrepancy between men and women, double as many men claim to
share the buying of domestic household products than the number of
women who would agree.
7%
13%
U.S.
6%
11%
Importance of sustainable hygiene in emerging markets
Germany
In In emerging markets there would appear to be considerable potential for greater innovation in terms of the development and marketing
of hygiene products. Up to six in ten consumers in these markets cannot find the hygiene products they need, as many as seven in ten feel
underinformed about the products they buy. In China and Russia over
half say that personal hygiene products are too expensive.
6%
19%
Sweden
4%
7%
U.K.
4%
4%
Another crucial aspect of these emerging markets is the latent worry
shown by consumers over the contents and materials in hygiene products. As many as 80% of Mexicans surveyed are very worried about
whether hygiene products may contain materials that are potentially
harmful for their children, 60% of Russians, over half of Chinese
(56%).
In the UK and Sweden, by contrast, consumers appear largely unconcerned in this regard.
23
0
16
32
48
64
80
WOMEN , HYGIENE A ND T HE FA MILY
Whether these results are due to unfounded suspicion or to genuine experience of harmful materials in hygiene products, particularly
in emerging markets, they should constitute an area of concern for
providers of hygiene products. A sizeable minority of distrustful and
anxious consumers must have a powerful negative impact both on
commercial interests in these markets and on hygiene generally.
Young women especially concerned
As a whole, it would be fair to say that women care especially about
their own personal hygiene, and are more open and forthcoming about
hygiene issues. Women take responsibility for hygiene-related matters within the family, young women are more aware of, and anxious
about, their personal hygiene than older women, and first-time mothers is a sensitive category.
There is a case, therefore, for making young mothers a particular focal point for information, education and help regarding hygiene and
hygiene products, as they are the hub of future families and they are
the demographic that expresses most anxiety about hygiene and hygiene products.
It would appear to be beyond question that better hygiene, and knowledge of issues and products related to hygiene, is a goal to which many
aspire, particularly women, and that many consider essential to their
wellbeing.
SCA is a world-leader in incontinence-care
products and solutions through its TENA
brand, which provides comfort and dignity
to millions of women and men of all ages
worldwide who experience bladder weakness. TENA’s incontinence products are
available on the Internet, an ideal and discreet
sales channel.
www.tena.cn
24
“Over half of Chinese
(56%) parents are very
worried about that the
personal hygiene products
they buy may contain materials that are harmful for
their children.”
Iconic Tempo brand flexes its muscles further into China
Strong link between income levels and
hygiene products
Also, this report shows that 80 percent of the Chinese
spend more time, and more money, on their hygiene today compared with ten years ago. This is a development
pattern which SCA, the world’s third-largest hygiene
company with sales in more than 100 countries, both
rich and poor, is very familiar with.
SCA’s Tempo brand of top-quality paper handkerchiefs,
with an about 70 percent market share in Hong Kong, is
now also available in some other major cities in China.
Building on its award-winning branding and marketing activities in Europe and Hong Kong, Tempo is now
more than ready to meet and surpass the increasingly
sophisticated demands and needs of Chinese consumers – especially those of young professional women, a
highly-aspiring, trend-setting consumer segment.
As income levels, size of the middle class and standard of
living continue to rise in China, generally speaking, more
and more people will gain access to hygiene products and
services from companies like SCA – which contribute to
making them feel more comfortable, strengthening their
sense of dignity as well as improving their health. As a
matter of fact, at income levels as low as USD 2 per day,
people start using their money to finance items other
than food and housing – and hygiene products are high
on that list.
Young women in the hygiene forefront
For many leading brands within fast-moving consumer
goods, young professional women is a key consumer
segment – as it is a highly-aspiring, trend-setting group
leading the way for new lifestyle-related attitudes and
behaviors later picked up by broader consumer segments in any given population. This is also true within
the hygiene area, a fact confirmed in the survey findings underlying this report, something which Tempo is
already capitalizing on.
All this bodes well for people living in China – and for
SCA. Thus, Tempo’s further expansion into China fits
very well with SCA’s strategic objective as a global hygiene, preventive-health and sustainability leader. And
the chances for success are high, since Tempo is already
one of the top-ten household brands that mainland Chinese buy during their trips to Hong Kong.
This report shows, among many other things, that
young women in the nine countries surveyed, including China, spend more time on their daily hygiene than
any other age or gender group. For instance, Chinese
women aged 15-25 spend an average of x minutes on
their daily hygiene, compared with… In addition, the
report shows that young women in all countries are
more aware of, and more anxious about, their hygiene
status compared to older women as well as men of all
ages.
25
FOCU S : S U S TAIN A BILI T Y
SCA Walks the Sustainability Talk
As the world’s third-largest hygiene company, we at
SCA believe that we must contribute towards increasing the number of healthy people as well as a healthy
planet. The way we view the equilibrium in the world,
those two dimensions must go hand in hand. And
they definitely do, in the way SCA manufactures and
distributes hygiene products and solutions around
the world.
As a recognized, global sustainability leader – environmentally, financially and socially – with production
in 40, employees in 60 and sales in more than 100
countries, we have a lot of experience and knowledge
about how to act sustainably – a fact that our employees, customers and end-consumers in China now also
can benefit from and capitalize on.
The fact that SCA is Europe’s largest private forest
owner plays an important role in our fight against
global warming. The scale and quality of our safe
processes, resource-efficient production, responsible
forest management and fiber sourcing as well as energy-saving measures distinguish us from our competitors – and makes SCA the natural sustainability leader.
SCA ranks as one of the world’s most environmentally sustainable, or “greenest”, companies. Our
internationally renowned, award-winning forest
management is a corner stone in the Group’s environmentally-friendly, energy-efficient sourcing and
production with a focus on a continuous reduction
of CO2 emissions. In addition to cutting-edge forest
management, SCA systematically replaces coal and
26
oil with biofuels and natural gas in its production
plants around the world.
Core part of strategy
Sustainability is an integral part of SCA’s worldwide operations and a key dimension of the Group’s
strategy for growth and value creation. SCA’s four
sustainability targets, of which our ambitious CO2
target is one, are incorporated in the Group’s overall strategy. This ensures that our long-term sustainability ambitions are prioritised at both Group and
business-area levels.
Wesley Chiu, Director for Business Development & Legal
Affairs in SCA Asia Pacific and based in Shanghai, a
position which includes responsibility for Sustainability
issues, explains:
“SCA has since long recognized that sustainable business operations – financially, environmentally and
socially – constitute a market driver which lead to
higher profits as well as increased satisfaction among
our employees, customers and end-consumers. “
He elaborates further:
“In short, SCA’s strong, multifaceted sustainability
record creates value for everyone involved. And as a
producer of hygiene-related, fast-moving consumer
goods, for SCA there is absolutely no contradiction
between making the world a better place and making money. On the contrary; we live it every day
in everything we do. For us it is a matter of credibility, and it is important that we practice what we
preach.”
Value creation through
“green” consumer insights
Focus on sustainability is built into SCA’s organizational culture – “That’s how we do things around
here”. To a large degree it is about understanding
and acting on the needs of customers and end-consumers, and give them what they want. SCA has a
long history of doing just that – insight-driven innovation is a key concept throughout the company
around the world.
From having sales in over 100 countries, SCA knows
that an growing number of consumers around the
world, in emerging as well as in more mature markets, have increasingly high expectations that the hygiene-related products they buy do not cause significant environmental harm – or harm to themselves or
their families. Our survey findings presented in this
Hygiene Matters Report confirm this.
Wesley Chiu says:
“Today, many consumers want to know how products are made, what they are made from, how far
they travel, and how they are packaged. This way,
the challenge for SCA is to embrace this consumer approach and create new market opportunities
based on our insight-driven innovation processes.
And SCA does just that, for instance through our
recently established Innovation Centre in China.”
He continues to explain:
“As a matter of fact, we view these increasing demands related to environmentally friendliness and
safety as something which add value by providing us
with new customer and end-consumer insights – be
it from a Chinese nursing home using our TENAbrand urinary incontinence-care products and solutions, Australian end-consumers buying our baby
diapers and feminine-care pads, or from a French
hotel chain using our Tork-brand toilet paper and
single-use paper towels. This our continuously ongoing dialogue with our customers and end-consumers plays a crucial role in our ability to develop
better products meeting their needs.”
Wesley Chiu, Director for Business Development &
Legal Affairs in SCA Asia Pacific, is also responsible
for Sustainability issues. In the picture, he visits
Antarctica to learn more about the effects of climate
change on the region and its residents.
27
FOCU S : S U S TAIN A BILI T Y
Resource Management System
SCA has always believed that action speaks
louder than words. Therefore, we make sure
that our sustainability-related activities worldwide are measured and followed up in a
transparent manner to have credibility internally
as well as externally. This approach demands
a comprehensive system for managing the collection, analysis and presentation of sustainability-related data from our operations around
the world.
Large-scale forest management
At SCA, we take a holistic view of our products
and our environmental footprint, from when we
plant pine seedlings in our forests, the processes in
our mills to the final products and how they can be
disposed of.
Forest management is an important way to counter
climate change. SCA is Europe’s largest private forest owner. Growth in our forests is more than 20
percent higher than felling, which entails an annual
net absorption of CO2 of 2.6 million tonnes. The
net CO2 absorption of SCA’s forests is approximately equivalent to the combined amount of CO2
released by all of the Group’s production facilities
worldwide.
SCA has since the late 1990s developed and
refined its Resource Management System
(RMS), which contain data for individual production facilities and business groups as well
as on Group level. RMS allows SCA to analyse
data that describe how different parts of the
company use raw materials, water, energy
and transportation; the emissions they make;
and the solid waste produced and how it is
handled.
Wesley Chiu emphasises:
“On a global scale, every year seven million hectares of forest disappear from the earth, corresponding to 0.2 percent of the world’s total forestland. The amount of CO2 that can be sequestered
by trees and land declines accordingly. For SCA’s
forest operations, however, the situation is reversed.
Each tree harvested by the company is replaced
with three new ones. That is one of several concrete
actions that prove that we at SCA walk the CO2reduction talk.“
He continues:
“Altogether, SCA’s forests have an annual net
growth rate of about one percent. As a matter of
fact, if half of the earth’s forestland were managed
in the same way as SCA’s forests, the amount of
CO2 sequestered in a growing forest would be sufficient to offset the use of fossil fuels. That would
mean no more global warming. It is a staggering
notion!”
28
Broad spectrum
of CO2-related activities
SCA contributes in many ways to reducing the
total volume of carbon dioxide emissions from
fossil fuels. Here are the main areas:
Awards and recognitions
Forestry: Growth in SCA’s forests exceeds
the harvesting rate by more than 20 percent,
meaning that a net amount of about 2.6 million
tonnes of carbon dioxide is absorbed annually.
Growth in SCA’s forests is 20 percent higher
than the volume harvested, which means
that a net amount of about 2.6 million tonnes
of carbon dioxide is absorbed annually. This
corresponds to the total amount of carbon
emissions from fossil fuel generated by all of
the Group’s production facilities. If half of the
earth’s forestland were managed in the same
manner that SCA manages its forests, the
amount of fossil carbon dioxide absorbed in a
growing forest worldwide would be sufficient to
offset the use of fossil fuels.
SCA was named one of the world’s most
ethical com­panies by the Ethisphere Institute.
SCA was ranked one of the world’s most sustainable com­panies in 2010 by the responsible business magazine Corporate Knights.
SCA was cited as the best Swedish company
for carbon dioxide reporting in the global
Carbon Disclosure Project survey 2010.
SCA won FAR’s prize for the best 2009
Sustainability Report. FAR is an industry
organization for accountants and consultants.
Biofuel: SCA is a major supplier of biofuels
to Swedish municipalities,companies and
households. In 2010, deliveries of forest-based
biofuels were 3.5 TWh.
SCA has been listed on the FTSE4Good
global sustain­ability index since 2001.
SCA is listed on the Global Challenges Index,
which was launched by the Hannover Stock
Exchange and the research company Oekom
Research AG in 2007.
Reduced use of fossil fuels: For the past
number of years, SCA has been pursuing a
long-term programme to reduce the Group’s
use of fossil fuels. Today, the Group’s use of
biofuels accounts for 43 percent of the Group’s
entire fuel consumption.
SCA is included in Kempen SNS SRI
Universe and was approved for inclusion
in the Orange SeNSe Fund.
Increased share of renewable electrical
power: SCA strives to increase the share of
renewable energy by, for example, investing
heavily in wind power and by using the residual
products from mills and forestry as fuel.
SCA is a constituent of ECPI indices. ECPI
is a rating and index company dedicated to
ESG Research (Environmental, Social and
Governance).
More efficient energy consumption: SCA
works continuously to enhance the efficiency of
its energy consumption. This takes the form of
small-scale projects (ESAVE) and major energy
investments.
SIX STAR is a Nordic sustainabil­ity index
launched in 2009 by SIX and the consultant
Ethix. SCA is ranked among the top 25
Swed­ish companies.
SCA is included in OMX GES Sustainability
Nordic and OMX GES Sustainability Sweden,
wo indexes for responsible investments
launched by Nasdaq OMX and GES
Investment Services.
Better products despite using less material:
Hygiene products are steadily improving from a
user perspective. Better products and the use
of less material lead to lower consumption and
less waste and transport, and thus a smaller
environmental footprint. Examples of this include the ultra-thin incontinence-care products
launched by SCA’s TENA brand in 2010 on
some markets.
SCA became a UN Global Compact member
in 2008. SCA’s 2008 and 2009 Communication
on Progress reports were selected as representative of Best Practice by Global Compact.
SCA applies the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) at A+ level in its
sus­tainability reporting. The report was audited by Pw­C.
29
Women,
hygiene
and society
WOMEN , HYGIENE A ND S O CIE T Y
Individual perspectives, common concerns
In the previous chapters we have seen how women’s concern about,
interest in and knowledge of personal hygiene is high, and how mothers are a driving force behind health and hygiene in the family. And
we have also seen how anxiety about hygiene is more pronounced
in emerging markets compared to in more mature markets. In this
chapter we will widen the focus to women’s role regarding hygiene in
wider society, and how women can and are a primary focus of efforts
to improve hygiene in society.
Women are integral to this because they are affected and concerned by
poor standards of hygiene in society. And given that women are active
participants in improving standards of public hygiene, their role and
importance should not be underestimated.
Women are not millions, but hundreds of millions, billions even. As
presented earlier, as consumers alone, women far outweigh the combined spending power of the populations of China and India.
What they do for themselves and their families, they may also do for
wider society.
Poor hygiene is keeping Chinese women from
using public facilities:
• 66% have recently refrained from using a public
swimming pool or shower at a gym
• 38% have recently refrained from using a public
toilet because of poor hygiene standards
• 28% have recently refrained from visiting a
restaurant, pub or café
31
WOMEN KNOW THEIR
HYGIENE NEEDS BEST
How well operators of public
washrooms understand the needs
and wants of women may very well
determine if they will come back to
their gyms, movie theaters, restaurants or shops again. After all,
women of all ages spend a lot of
time outside their homes, so public
restrooms serve many more purposes than one might think.
Obviously, women have biological needs, but a restroom can also
cater to psychological needs which
make them want to use public
washrooms as a place of their own
to wind down. After a long, busy
morning at work, and on top of that,
a severe headache because of menstruation, the restroom can provide
a quiet sanctuary to sit down and
unwind.
Therefore, besides being wellstocked with soap and single-use
paper towels, it is important that
public washrooms are designed
and spacious enough to fit women’s
various needs: a place to wind
down, a hygienic place to change
their feminine or incontinence pads
or babies’ diapers – and, of course,
easy access to toilets, dispensers
and designated bins.
Source: Third-party qualitative research
conducted by Psyma International Inc. for
Tork in North America.
WOMEN , HYGIENE A ND S O CIE T Y
Women and public hygiene
Public hygiene appears to be a source of considerable anxiety in the
modern world, for women more than men. Six in ten of respondents
in our nine-country survey have significantly altered their behavior
in certain situations in the past year due to poor standards of public
hygiene. Almost half have refrained from visiting a public toilet, an
increase of 17% on the previous year, over five in ten women as
against four in ten men.
Chinese worry a lot about becoming ill due to poor hygiene. 53%
of Chinese women respondents (and 49% of Chinese men) worry
always or often about becoming ill due to poor hygiene. This is
the highest level of worry in any country in the survey apart from
Mexico.
Also, poor hygiene is keeping Chinese women from using public
facilities:
• 66% have recently refrained from using a public swimming pool
or shower at a gym (64% of Chinese men)
• 38% have recently refrained from using a public toilet because
of poor hygiene standards (39% of Chinese men)
• 28% have recently refrained from visiting a restaurant, pub or
café (26% of Chinese men)
52%
oF all women surveyed
have recently refrained
from using a public
toilet due to their concern of lack of hygiene
and cleanliness
?
SCA Hygiene Report 2011:
nine countries
Poor public hygiene standards:
Have you recently decided NOT
to do one of the following activities because you were concerned
about the lack of hygiene and
cleanliness?
Female
Male
Visit a public toilet
52%
44%
Showering or swimming at a certain
gym or swimming pool
26%
22%
Visit a cafe, pub or restaurant
11%
13%
Traveling on public transport
11%
10%
Eating dinner at someone else’s house
6%
7%
51%concert or similar event
Going to the movies,
4%
5%
Going to work or school
3%
3%
32
0
16
32
48
64
80
39%
of all people surveyed
believe that individuals
taking greater responsibility would make the
greatest difference for
raising hygiene standards and improving people’s health
?
SCA Hygiene Report 2011:
nine countries
Improving public hygiene
standards
What measures do you think
would make the greatest difference in raising standards of
hygiene and improving peoples’
health in the country where you
live?
Individuals taking greater personal
responsibility
It would be hard not to conclude that poor standards of public hygiene
prevent people from effortlessly participating in normal everyday activities and interactions such as going to school or work, enjoying
cultural activities or going shopping with family and friends.
39%
Improved standards of hygiene in
public toilets.
30%
Individual concern, collective responsibility
More education and information to
citizens.
When asked what measures would make the greatest difference in
improving standards of public hygiene, the largest proportion, almost
four in ten, in our nine-country survey cited a greater degree of individual responsibility.
24%
Improved standards of hygiene
in public places (e.g. restaurants,
gyms and conference centers).
21%
On the same question, three in ten thought that the greatest improvement in standards of public hygiene could be affected by making public toilets cleaner. A quarter would like better education and information, and one in five would like to see an improvement of hygiene
standards in their hospitals.
Improved standards of hygiene in
hospitals and healthcare providers.
19%
Legislation that regulates hygiene
issues more clearly and strictly (in
public places, food hygiene, etc.).
Among the Chinese respondents, however, the results are quite different. The Chinese believe that stricter legislation and focus on hygiene
in public areas are the best ways to raise hygiene standards and improve people’s health in their country:
Improved water and sewage system.
• L
egislation that regulates hygiene issues more clearly (36%) and
strictly (in public places, food hygiene, etc.)
9%
19%
17%
Companies taking more responsibility
for hygiene issues.
0
33
16
32
48
64
80
WOMEN , HYGIENE A ND S O CIE T Y
• I mproved standards of hygiene in public places (36%) (e.g. restaurants, gyms and conference centers)
• Improved water and sewage system (29%)
• More education and information to citizens (29%)
• Improved standards of hygiene in hospitals and healthcare providers (24%)
• Improved standards of hygiene in public toilets (19%)
• Individuals taking greater personal responsibility (12%)
• Companies taking more responsibility for hygiene issues (6%)
Women taking the lead
Our nine-country survey shows that by a margin of two to one in
most of the countries surveyed, women see themselves as taking a
more proactive role than men in contributing to the good public hygiene of their communities. Indeed, the margin widens in Sweden
to almost four to one, and in China over two thirds of women see
themselves, rather than others, as the main contributors to standards
of public hygiene around them.
Correlating to this, when asked whether women or men are most
affected by poor standards of public hygiene, 56% of Chinese said
that women are worst affected, over four in ten Russians and Swedish
respondents concurring. Overall, one in three think that women are
more affected than men, as opposed to just 5% who think men are
more affected than women.
34
“The Chinese believe that
stricter legislation and
focus on hygiene in public
areas are the best ways
to raise hygiene standards and improve people’s
health in their country.”
“For our health, our sense of wellbeing and
our dignity as human beings, we all aspire
to the best possible standards of hygiene.
As this report shows, women are a key force
of change in this area. In hygiene matters, therefore, it
makes sense to put women first.”
Women empowerment
Empowering individuals is ultimately how you change communities.
According to our nine-country survey, individually and collectively, on
hygiene issues women are more active in their communities, families,
and between each other. Empowering women is therefore a first step
towards changing the hygiene and health standards of communities,
and potentially societies as a whole.
When we talk about empowerment in terms of hygiene and preventive
health, we mean that the need for, and the right to better hygiene and
health, on a personal, household and societal level, is a need and a right
to which all can readily agree. Likewise, by stressing the empowerment
of women in this regard, we believe that it makes sense to devolve as
much responsibility to them as possible, because they will facilitate
improvement.
Hygiene is a basic human need
It is a natural human need to want to be in control of one’s immediate
environment, and a fundamental part of that instinct is to keep that
environment clean – birds will remove their chicks’ droppings from
the nest for the same reason. The question therefore is not whether
there is any substantial difference in attitudes to personal hygiene in
different cultures, societies, economies, but where people in diverse
countries feel the boundaries are of an immediate environment that
can, practically, be controlled. The need to ensure good hygiene in the
home is the same as the desire to attain good hygiene in the neighborhood, and society as a whole.
For our health, our sense of wellbeing and our dignity as human beings, we all aspire to the best possible standards of hygiene. As this
report shows, women are a key force of change in this area. In hygiene
matters, therefore, it makes sense to put women first.
35
FOCU S : INNOVAT ION
SCA’s Recipe for Success:
Competitive-Edge Based Innovation
SCA’s new Innovation Centre in Shanghai is an example of how SCA, a global leader in hygiene products and solutions, manages to marry the best of two
worlds. On one hand, SCA is a profitable company
which sells its branded, fast-moving consumer goods
in more than 100 countries.
At the same time, through its insight-driven innovations SCA contributes to making the world a better
place by offering essential hygiene products that
make everyday life a bit easier, healthier and more
comfortable for hundreds of millions of children, women and men.
The ability to bridge these two worlds is where SCA’s
truly competitive, differentiating edge lies. The new
Innovation Centre in Shanghai is a case in point as
it clearly delivers on this duality of strength – and creates value for end-consumers and customers in China
and beyond.
Competitive sustainability advantage
The new Innovation Centre in Shanghai capitalizes on the inherent strength in this duality. As far
as SCA is concerned, the right for hygiene is everybody’s right – a way of thinking reflected in the
company employees’ strong desire to improve people’s everyday lives through innovative, sustainable
hygiene products.
Olle Carlbark, Head of SCA’s new Innovation Centre in
Shanghai, explains:
“For us working at SCA, it is about improving peo-
36
ple’s everyday lives and raising their quality of life
– no matter if they live in a rich or poor country, or
in an urban or rural area. And the fact that SCA
is an international forerunner in sustainable business practices – environmentally, financially and socially – is really appreciated by stakeholders here in
China.”
Christoph Michalski, President of SCA Global Hygiene
Category, adds:
“SCA has vast amounts of experience and knowledge accumulated from meeting consumers’ hygiene
needs in more than 100 countries – both in so-called
developing countries and in more mature markets.
So we know that women, men and children have
similar hygiene needs wherever they may live. And
we do our utmost to meet those needs on their own
terms when it comes to financial means and potential cultural and social restrictions. SCA’s Chinese
consumers already benefit from this approach, for
instance when it comes to our adapted product offering in urinary incontinence care – which provides
broader access to market-leading products to the
tens of millions of adult Chinese who suffer from
this common medical condition.“
Driving forces for innovation
SCA’s aspirations within Social Corporate Responsibility to raise individual and collective hygiene
standards around the world are an important driving force in the company’s innovation work.
Olle Carlbark, Head of SCA’s new
Innovation Centre in Shanghai,
visits a TENA end-user in Guangzhou in southern China.
Christoph Michalski,
President of SCA
Global Hygiene
Category
Ulf Söderström,
President of SCA
Asia Pacific
37
FOCU S : INNOVAT ION
Olle Carlbark elaborates:
“Increased access to incontinence-care products, for
instance, in a country like China may change large
groups of people’s lives dramatically from one day
to the next by offering security, comfort, discretion
and odor control that they have never experienced
before. That way, our products enable users to improve their quality of life and restore their sense of
dignity – which gives them the necessary confidence
to leave their homes, go to work, take part in social
activities and lead a full and satisfying life without
having to worry about leaking bodily fluids.”
Another important sustainability dimension driving
innovation forward within SCA is the reduction of
the environmental impact of the raw materials used,
the so-called ‘carbon footprint’.
Olle Carlbark explains:
“In our continuous efforts to reduce our ‘carbon
footprint,’ we at SCA strive, among other things, to
use less material in our baby diapers, feminine pads
and incontinence-care products that we sell around
the world – of course, without making them less absorbent or comfortable for consumers. For example,
the ‘carbon footprint’ of SCA’s open baby diaper
was reduced by 45 percent between 1987 and 2009,
and our thin feminine sanitary pad by close to 30
percent between 1997 and 2009. Also, TENA Belt,
a new game-changing incontinence-care product
developed in and recently launched on the Chinese
market, has a 25 percent lower ‘carbon footprint’
compared to that of TENA Value, for instance, a
traditional adult diaper that has been available to
Chinese consumers for about two years now.”
Cross-border, insight-driven innovation
As SCA’s nine-country Hygiene Matters survey
shows, people have similar hygiene needs no matter
where they live on our planet. Their financial capacities to buy all the hygiene products they need
may vary, but their aspirations to raise their hygiene
standards for themselves and their families are basically the same all over the world.
Consequently, SCA’s decision to open an Innovation
Centre in Shanghai was not made in a vacuum. On
the contrary. With sales in over 100 countries, SCA
knows that expansion in any market, in this case
in China, involves a lot more than simply repeating
product and marketing strategies used in other parts
of the world. Instead, first and foremost, it requires
access to and a respectful understanding of local
end-consumer and customer needs.
Presently, SCA offers three brands of hygiene products in China: TENA, Tempo and Tork. Initially,
the new Innovation Centre will focus on the TENA
brand’s incontinence-care products and solutions, an
area in which SCA is the world leader with a 24 percent global market share. But the objective is clear:
to add on more hygiene categories such as baby
diapers, feminine care and tissue as SCA’s presence
in China and the rest of the Asia Pacific expands.
SCA’s new Hygiene Innovation Centre in
Shanghai was inaugurated in May 2011.
38
Olle Carlbark continues:
2011 TENA product launches
in China
“Simply put, the purpose of the new Innovation
Centre is to learn from Chinese consumer insights
and translate them into innovations for China, the
rest of the Asia Pacific region as well as global markets. And it is innovation on several fronts: business
models, products and solutions, distribution, packaging and knowledge sharing.”
The two new TENA products launched in
China in July of 2011 – TENA Belt and TENA
Textile – is a result of special market needs that
SCA have identified through its continuous
consumer and customer research in China. For
more information on these or other TENA products and solutions used in home or institutional
care in China, please visit www.tena.cn.
Win-win TENA scenario
SCA’s TENA brand, the world number one incontinence-care brand, entered into the Chinese market
in 2009. TENA is the global bladder weakness and
incontinence-care expert offering leading products
and solutions - both for institutional and home care
- which improve physical as well as psychological
wellbeing. At any given point in time, there are tens
of millions of adult Chinese urinary-incontinence
sufferers whose lives could become a bit easier,
healthier and more comfortable by using TENA
products and solutions.
Ulf Söderström, President of SCA Asia Pacific, is convinced that TENA in China is a win-win scenario:
“TENA has knowledge and experience accumulated
and refined from over 20,000 healthcare institutions
around the world during the past 40 years. And we
believe that the relevant Chinese authorities and
elderly-care institutions should capitalize on our
knowledge bank as they are facing an aging-population dilemma which is turning elderly care into
a major social problem – an area in which SCA’s
world-class incontinence products and solutions
make lives easier for the incontinent as well as their
families and professional caretakers.”
With a share of the Chinese population older than
60 years approaching 200 million, there is a rapidly growing need for incontinence-care products
and solutions: for use at home or in institutions like
nursing homes and other elderly-care living arrangements. SCA will make sure to contribute to making
this transition smoother for everyone involved.
39
SCA at a glance
SCA creates value by fulfilling the needs of customers and consumers in a spirit of innovation, through
continuous efficiency enhancements and with a
clear desire to contribute to a sustainable development. The Group develops, produces and markets
personal care products, tissue, packaging, publication papers and solid-wood products, and has
sales in more than 100 countries. In 2010, SCA
had annual sales of SEK 107bn and about 45,000
employees.
SCA in Asia Pacific
President Ulf Söderström
Headquarters Shanghai, China
Present in 13 countries Australia, China, Fiji, Hong Kong, Indonesia,
& regions
Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines,
Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand
2011 Employees 3,000
2010 Sales split Personal Care (43%), Tissue (48%), *Packaging (9%)
Website
www.sca.com/asia, www.sca.com/australasia
*SCA’s Packaging business in Asia was divested in April 2010
SCA´s sales per region
SCA’s hygiene brands in Asia Pacific
Europe, 75%
North America, 9%
Latin America, 6%
Asia, 5%
Australasia, 4%
Other countries, 1%
40
Awards and recognitions
SCA Group
SCA is a global hygiene and
paper company that develops and
produces personal care products,
tissue, packaging solutions and
forest products. SCA has sales
in more than 100 countries under
many strong brands.
SCA was named one of the world’s most
ethical com­panies by the Ethisphere Institute.
SCA was ranked one of the world’s most sustainable com­panies in 2010 by the responsible business magazine Corporate Knights.
SCA was cited as the best Swedish company
for carbon dioxide reporting in the global
Carbon Disclosure Project survey 2010.
Personal Care
The business area comprises three
product segments: incontinence
care, baby diapers and feminine
care. Production is conducted at
27 facilities in 23 countries. Products are sold in more than 100
countries throughout the world.
SCA won FAR’s prize for the best 2009
Sustainability Report. FAR is an industry
organization for accountants and consultants.
Tissue
Consumer tissue consists of toilet
paper, kitchen rolls, facial tissue,
handkerchiefs and napkins. In the
Away-From-Home (AFH) tissue
segment, SCA delivers complete
hygiene concepts to companies
and institutions. Production is
conducted at 38 facilities in 18
countries. Products are sold in
some 80 countries throughout the
world.
SCA has been listed on the FTSE4Good
global sustain­ability index since 2001.
SCA is listed on the Global Challenges Index,
which was launched by the Hannover Stock
Exchange and the research company Oekom
Research AG in 2007.
SCA is included in Kempen SNS SRI
Universe and was approved for inclusion
in the Orange SeNSe Fund.
SCA is a constituent of ECPI indices. ECPI
is a rating and index company dedicated to
ESG Research (Environmental, Social and
Governance).
Packaging
SCA is a full-service supplier of
packaging solutions and offers
both transport and consumer
packaging. SCA operates one
innovation centre and 16 design
centres. Production is conducted
at 170 facilities in 21 countries.
Products are sold in 36 countries
in Europe.
SIX STAR is a Nordic sustainabil­ity index
launched in 2009 by SIX and the consultant
Ethix. SCA is ranked among the top 25
Swed­ish companies.
SCA is included in OMX GES Sustainability
Nordic and OMX GES Sustainability Sweden,
wo indexes for responsible investments
launched by Nasdaq OMX and GES
Investment Services.
Forest Products
Production comprises publication papers, pulp and solid-wood
products, and is conducted at 17
facilities in three countries. Products are mainly sold in Europe, but
also in Asia, North Africa and North
America.
SCA became a UN Global Compact member
in 2008. SCA’s 2008 and 2009 Communication
on Progress reports were selected as representative of Best Practice by Global Compact.
SCA applies the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) at A+ level in its
sus­tainability reporting. The report was audited by Pw­C.
41
Images: Getty Images, Håkan Lindgren, Juliana Yondt, iStockphoto and SCA.
Production: SCA Corporate Communications
Layout: Intellecta Infolog, Stockholm 2011
Print: XXXXX
www.sca.com/asia