Forest stewardship

Business context

Healthy, resilient forests help regulate the climate, protect biodiversity and water resources, and support the agricultural and fiber supply chains on which The Clorox Company’s products and packaging depend.

Our principal forest-linked commodities are wood fiber and pulp-based materials, palm-derived ingredients and soy. Most of our wood fiber, pulp-based materials and soy are sourced in the United States, where regional deforestation risk is comparatively lower. While our palm-derived ingredients are sourced internationally, they represent approximately 0.003% of the global palm oil market.

Even where our volumes or exposure are limited, we recognize that deforestation, land conversion and ecosystem degradation can affect the availability and cost of materials, supply continuity, regulatory compliance and stakeholder trust. Investing in forest stewardship helps us build more transparent and resilient supply chains, safeguard access to important raw materials and support the ecosystems and communities connected to their production. 

Goals and commitments

Source only recycled or certified fiber for primary and secondary fiber-based packaging. 
Source 100% sustainable palm oil through Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) supply chains by 2030.
Trace our palm supply chain to first refiner and mill, annually.

Management approach and initiatives

Our forest stewardship approach prioritizes the commodities most relevant to our business and applies a combination of sourcing standards, certification, traceability, supplier engagement and landscape-level collaboration. We seek to use the most appropriate tools for each commodity while improving the quality and transparency of our data over time. 

Governance

Governance for our responsible sourcing program falls under our sustainability governance approach. Our responsible sourcing team implements the program through our sustainability and procurement functions.

Policies and standards

Our Business Partner Code of Conduct (BPCOC) is the foundation of our responsible sourcing program. Our business partners, including suppliers, are required to adhere to the BPCOC, which details our expectations related to environmental management, including forest stewardship, alongside social compliance and ethical business practices. Our BPCOC is reinforced through the following:

Supplier contracts help us enforce compliance with the BPCOC and outline basic expectations on sustainability stewardship.
Responsible and Sustainable Sourcing Policy which translates our BPCOC into specific requirements for our suppliers. 
Sustainable Sourcing of Raw Material Standard which states our requirements for the sourcing of raw materials of agricultural or mining origin, in addition to material-specific requirements. 
Human Rights Commitment which sets forth our commitment to protecting people’s dignity within our company, supply chain and communities, which is particularly relevant to our global forest-linked supply chains.

Risk assessment and mitigation

Clorox defines its most material forest linked dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities through its enterprise risk management and sustainability materiality assessments which evaluate issues across the full value chain based on business relevance, stakeholder concern, and potential financial and operational impacts. Responsible sourcing and supply chain resilience ranked highly in our sustainability materiality assessment. Biodiversity and deforestation did not rank as top-tier material issues for Clorox because we do not procure large quantities of forest-linked commodities from high-risk regions. For this reason, we take a holistic approach to strengthening the resilience of our supply chain and responsible sourcing practices.

Supplier engagement

Through our Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) and Clorox Climate Partners programs, we engage suppliers that present the greatest impacts and opportunities related to advancing sustainability in their operations. The SRM program scores priority suppliers on various sustainability key performance indicators including deforestation, while Clorox Climate Partners is an initiative to collaborate with suppliers with the largest carbon impacts to improve transparency and identify opportunities to tackle shared environmental challenges.

Wood fiber and pulp-based materials management

We use wood fiber and pulp-based materials primarily in product packaging, our Kingsford business and the majority our wipes products. Most of these materials are sourced in the United States. 

Packaging: We are committed to sourcing only recycled fiber or virgin fiber certified to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) or Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) standards for our primary and secondary fiber-based packaging. Certification helps verify that forests are managed with safeguards for water quality, biodiversity, wildlife and the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Kingsford business: We use scrap wood and sawdust residues sourced from local mills, putting over one million tons of wood by-products to productive use annually. Our Kingsford charcoal with Sure Fire Grooves technology also reduces the amount of raw materials necessary to make a charcoal briquet while outperforming the original product.
Wipes category: We engage suppliers to improve the sourcing of pulp-fiber substrates used in select wipes products. Other selected wipes use substrates made from plant-based fibers.

Palm oil-derived ingredients management

Palm-derived ingredients are used in a limited number of Clorox products, including certain cleaning products, food flavorings, fragrances and natural-origin personal care products. They are primarily derivatives of palm oil and palm kernel oil and may be components of surfactants, fatty alcohols, emulsifiers, fragrances and other formulated ingredients. 

Although our purchases represent approximately 0.003% of the global palm oil market, we recognize our role in supporting a more responsible and resilient sector. Our approach focuses on traceability, supplier engagement, and supporting responsible production and respect for human rights, labor rights, local communities and biodiversity in our value chain. 

Clorox continues to establish and maintain traceability of our palm supply chains to first refiner and mill level. This visibility is critical in ensuring our palm commitments are effectively communicated and practiced throughout the supply chain. We focus on engaging our high-volume, priority suppliers (99% of our 2025 purchases) and have improved our traceability by aligning with these suppliers and our NGO partners. Our traceability work supports the effort to promote supply chain transparency and sustainability.

To strengthen transparency and encourage continuous improvement across the sector, we work with suppliers, industry peers, and nongovernmental organizations, including:

Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RPSO): As an RSPO member, we support a global multi-stakeholder standard for more sustainable palm oil and engage suppliers to expand sourcing through RSPO-certified supply chains where feasible.
Earthworm Foundation: Clorox has participated in Earthworm Foundation programming since 2017, supporting forest protection, traceability, supplier engagement, community livelihoods and long-term landscape transformation.

Soy management

Soy is another forest-linked commodity relevant to our supply chain and is used primarily in our food products. Because we source soy primarily from the United States and Canada, where deforestation and land-conversion risks are comparatively lower, our responsible sourcing efforts focus on addressing the commodity’s carbon footprint. Through the Clorox Climate Partners program, we collaborate with suppliers with the largest carbon impacts to improve transparency and identify opportunities to address shared environmental challenges. Learn more about Clorox Climate Partners on our climate webpage.

Recent progress*

Our recent work has focused on improving certified and recycled fiber sourcing, strengthening visibility into palm-derived ingredient supply chains and supporting landscape-level action in palm-producing regions:

^{* See Clorox’s Sustainability Data Hub for calculation methodologies, year-over-year performance, and our latest CDP submission which provides additional detail on our forest stewardship approach.}

Earthworm Foundation: Since 2021, Earthworm Foundation’s Aceh Landscape Program has helped bring 87,688 hectares (216,682 acres) of forest and high-value ecosystems under formal legal protection. The program also identified High Conservation Value and High Carbon Stock areas across eight company estates, covering 10,180 hectares (25,155 acres), including peatland areas vulnerable to deforestation and degradation.

Last updated

October 5, 2026