Sustainability at Kimberly-Clark

Guide for Suppliers

Revised January 9, 2012

Dear Suppliers:

Nearly 140 years ago, Kimberly-Clark was founded on the principles of selling quality products,

providing good customer service, and dealing fairly with our employees. Over the years, these

principles have served as the backdrop against which our company has grown, and today they

continue to guide us in all that we do. This philosophy also drives our commitment to

sustainability. We encourage you to become familiar with our sustainability principals to help

align your actions in ways that benefit us all.

In addition to the information provided below, you will find more information about our

Sustainability efforts in our current Sustainability Report at: http://www.kimberly-

clark.com/sustainability.aspx. Thank you for your continued support.

About this Guide. This Guide is divided into four parts and the sections are numbered for

convenient reference. Part 1 is “Kimberly-Clark Business Practices and Supplier Expectations.”

Part 2 focuses in K-C environmental policies. Part 3 discusses the K-C 2015 sustainability

metrics. Part 4 talks about the UN Global Compact and K-C’s social responsibility expectations.

By design there is a certain amount of overlap among the Parts, so you will have to look at each

of the Parts in order to achieve a comprehensive understanding of a broad topic.

Part 1 - Kimberly-Clark Business Practices and Supplier Expectations

1.1 - Working with Kimberly-Clark. At K-C, we seek to do business with suppliers who share

our values of quality, service and fair-dealing and our commitment to sustainability. Ensuring

high standards in all dealings with our suppliers remains an important business goal and part of

our Code of Conduct. We choose our suppliers based on a number of factors, including quality,

value, technology, service and sustainability. Our contracts and purchase order terms &

conditions require suppliers to produce goods in compliance with all applicable laws,

regulations, standards and codes. In addition to these requirements, contractors or suppliers

performing work at K-C facilities must also comply with rules and procedures established by

these facilities. Prospective contract manufacturers of K-C branded finished products undergo a

thorough due diligence assessment, including economic, environmental, safety, quality,

regulatory and social components, to assess and manage possible risk factors.

1.2 Commitment to Sound Governance. We take pride in our sound corporate governance

and strong internal controls. We practice accountable and ethical decision-making regarding our

economic, environmental, safety and social responsibilities. As a leading consumer packaged

goods organization employing more than 57,000 people worldwide, we also encourage our

suppliers to adopt and implement appropriate governance and sustainability policies.

1.3 Code of Conduct. Our board of directors and all K-C employees are required to comply

with K-C's Code of Conduct, which embodies our founding values and the company's

commitment to high ethical standards. The Code sets forth the company's expectations for

ethical behavior and compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations as well as corporate

standards and policies. We encourage our suppliers and contractors to adhere to high ethical

standards, as well as to the applicable laws of their country relating to employment, human

rights, discrimination, environment, health and safety. For more information, please see K-C's

Corporate Governance Policies and Code of Conduct, at

http://www.cms.kimberly-clark.com/umbracoimages/UmbracoFileMedia/code_of_conduct_fileUpload.pdf

1.4 Ethical Treatment of Suppliers at Kimberly-Clark. At Kimberly-Clark we are committed

to fair dealing with our customers and suppliers. We strive to treat our suppliers with honesty,

fairness and respect, and we expect the same ethical treatment in return. Kimberly-Clark

purchasing activities will be conducted in accordance with the highest ethical standards and

practices, as set out in our Code of Conduct.

The following standards apply to all K-C employees:

• Employees will avoid situations that may give rise to conflicts of interest or the appearance of

conflicts of interest.

• Suppliers are to be treated equitably and fairly throughout their relationship with K-C.

• K-C employees will not attempt to mislead, misrepresent or deceive anyone in conducting

business transactions.

• The giving and receiving of gifts is not permissible beyond a level which is infrequent, low

value, and reasonable and customary under the circumstances of the business relationship.

We should not accept or give any gifts that that could make the recipient feel that he/she should

do, or promise to do, anything in return.

• Confidential information related to supplier relationships will be held in strict confidence and

will not be shared with anyone outside the company unless otherwise mutually agreed with the

supplier.

1.5 Compliance with Laws. Suppliers to K-C must comply with applicable local, state (or

provincial) and federal/national laws, rules, regulations, standards or codes. Some of the items

that we would like to highlight for the U.S include:

The U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act

Equal Opportunity Clause of Executive Order (EO) 11246 regarding the maintenance of

non-segregated facilities

The Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Act of 1974

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973

EO 11701 relating to the employment of veterans

EO 11625 relating to participation by minority and women-owned businesses

EO 12138 relating to the utilization of concerns owned and controlled by socially and

economically disadvantaged individuals

1.6 Prevention of Bribery and Corruption. Kimberly-Clark's Code of Conduct expressly

forbids our employees, subsidiaries and equity affiliates and any of their officers or employees,

to authorize, offer or make any illegal gift or payment, directly or Indirectly to any government

official or any employee of a government, governmental agency or government controlled

enterprise. Suppliers must not offer or give, directly or indirectly through any agent or

intermediary, anything of value to any person to encourage that person to perform his or her job

duties or functions improperly or to reward that person for having done so (“Improper Payment”)

in violation of any anti-corruption law.

1.7 Customs-Trade Partnership against Terrorism (C-TPAT). For all goods that are

imported into the United States, all suppliers must familiarize itself with the applicable standards

of the C-TPAT program. When a supplier deals with K-C in the supply chain of products

destined for import into the U.S., the supplier shall implement a verifiable, documented program

that complies with (i) C-TPAT standards, including, but not limited to, completion of a supply

chain security self-assessment on an annual basis, and (ii) K-C’s requests that it reasonably

believes are necessary to maintain its C-TPAT certification, including, but, not limited to,

unannounced physical site assessments.

1.8 Upholding Human Rights in the Workplace. K-C is firmly committed to providing a work

environment in which all employees are free from harassment and intimidation, and we

encourage our suppliers to do the same. K-C adheres to human rights in employment and

human resources development and diversity policies that guide our employment practices. It

violates our company policy to discriminate against or harass another person based on race,

color, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion, national origin or disability as provided by law. We

will not knowingly do business with vendors that engage in child, forced, indentured, or bonded

labor, or that use corporal punishment or other forms of mental or physical coercion as a form of

discipline.

1.9 Safety and Health. The safety and health of our employees and the people who buy and

use our products are among K-C’s core values. K-C's Corporate Occupational Safety and

Hygiene Policy guides our efforts to achieve an illness and injury free workplace. Our policy can

be found at:

http://www.cms.kimberly-clark.com/umbracoimages/UmbracoFileMedia/Employment%20Policies_umbracoFile.pdf.

Our suppliers, third-party manufacturers and contractors who do business with our company are

encouraged to have a focus on safety and health consistent with ours.

At Kimberly‐Clark, we believe that occupational injuries and illnesses are preventable and can

be eliminated. We foster an environment in which all K‐C personnel are expected to contribute

to safety improvements by clearly understanding their role and obligation to support

occupational safety and hygiene objectives, conform to K‐C’s standards, and comply with

applicable safety and hygiene regulations.

1.10 Consumer Safety. K-C's Global Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs organization

plays a key role in helping to ensure that K-C products launched in markets worldwide are

substantiated as safe and compliant with all applicable regulatory requirements. K-C products

as well as those sourced from third-party manufacturers undergo safety evaluations and

comprehensive risk assessments, including a review of available scientific and medical data on

product components and special considerations associated with their intended use. We expect

suppliers to provide us with products and solutions that meet or exceed these safety and quality

standards, enabling us to protect the safety of our consumers, as well as the reputation of our

global brands. We also require that safety-related data is made available to K-C if needed to

complete our internal safety evaluation.

1.11 Inspection/Testing. K-C may make inspection visit(s) at the site where goods are being

designed or manufactured or services performed. Upon request, suppliers must provide K-C

with written or verbal reports relating to the status of its performance.

1.12 Supporting Alternatives to Animal Testing. K-C does not test cosmetics or consumer

products on animals, unless specifically required by law. We have worked hard to eliminate all

animal testing for our consumer products where adequate test data is available or where

alternative test models exist. Our focus on finding alternative testing methods also extends to

the materials we use in our products, which frequently are sourced from third-party suppliers.

We look to our suppliers to pursue alternative testing methods for their materials and products

that are supplied to our company.

1.13 Supplier Diversity. K-C encourages business with Minority-Owned Business Enterprises

(MBE’s) and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (WBE’s). K-C actively tracks its business

with MBE’s and WBE’s, and currently we do business with more than 650 such suppliers. From

2004–2010, K-C’s spending with MBE’s and WBE’s has increased every year over the prior

year. In 2010, spending in North America exceeded $215 million for WBEs and was more than

$135 million for MBEs. We invite socially disadvantaged suppliers to inquire about business

opportunities with K-C.

Part 2 - K-C Environmental Policies.

2.1 Kimberly-Clark Sustainability Strategy 2015 and Environmental Stewardship. K-C

believes that the success of our mission depends in large part on how well we manage the

environmental impacts of our businesses. It is the policy of Kimberly-Clark to design,

manufacture and deliver its products and to operate its business in a way that protects the

biosphere and promotes the sustainable use of natural resources upon which our businesses

and stakeholders depend, including forests, water supplies and energy resources.

2.2 K-C Environment Policies. Our Protection of Environment policy is available for

inspection at:

http://www.cms.kimberly-clark.com/umbracoimages/UmbracoFileMedia/Protection_of_Environment_umbracoFile.pdf

We strive to include sustainability principles in the choice of materials and services we use and

the products we sell. K-C's environmental efforts are guided by a proactive companywide

environmental vision program designed to drive performance beyond regulatory compliance and

toward sustainability, competitive advantage and reduced costs.

It is the policy of Kimberly-Clark to reduce, reuse and recycle manufacturing waste and to

continuously improve its processes to avoid the need for landfill of such wastes and to design its

products and packaging in a way that reduces the volume and weight of materials destined for

disposal. Suppliers can refer to our policy on waste minimization and landfill elimination at:

http://www.cms.kimberly-

clark.com/umbracoimages/UmbracoFileMedia/Waste_Minimization_and_Landfill_Elimination_umbracoFil

e.pdf

In furtherance of its sustainability principles and to achieve its greenhouse gas reduction

targets, Kimberly-Clark will continuously improve its energy management practices to conserve

energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while securing competitive, reliable energy

supplies to manufacture and distribute our products and conduct our business. Our greenhouse

gas policy is available at:

http://www.cms.kimberly-

clark.com/umbracoimages//UmbracoFileMedia/Energy_Efficiency_and_Greenhouse_Gas_Reduction_um

bracoFile.pdf

2.3 Responsible Fiber Procurement Policy. It is the policy of Kimberly-Clark to conduct its

businesses with a sincere and proper regard for the need to sustain natural resources used in

the manufacture of the Corporations products. It is the intent of our policy to promote

sustainable forest management practices by the Corporation’s wood fiber suppliers that are

economically viable, environmentally responsible and socially beneficial by considering supplier

performance in the selection process.

Use by the Corporation of environmentally responsible wood fiber in its products consistent with

product performance and competitive market conditions.

http://www.cms.kimberly-clark.com/umbracoimages/UmbracoFileMedia/Fiber%20Procurement%20Policy_umbracoFile.pdf

Part of the intent of this policy is to provide availability of information to interested stakeholders

concerning implementation of the company's Fiber Procurement Policy.

Under this policy, K-C will continue to encourage our wood fiber suppliers (and their suppliers, if

applicable) to meet the following:

• Use sustainable forest management.

• Not knowingly use illegally harvested wood fiber, which is wood fiber obtained in violation of

applicable government forest management requirements or other applicable laws and

regulations.

• Not knowingly use wood fiber sourced from “Special Forest Areas” (as defined in the policy.)

• Seek and obtain independent certification of their forest lands, forestry operations or fiber

procurement activities to an internationally recognized forest certification system. K-C has a

goal of purchasing 100% of its wood fiber from suppliers that have had their forestry operations

or wood procurement activities certified.

• K-C will give preference to wood fiber certified under Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

standards where it is available and meets product performance requirements and competitive

market conditions. K-C will work with its suppliers and other interested stakeholders to promote

the adoption of FSC throughout its supply chain.

• For the purposes of this policy, wood fiber includes wood pulp, logs, whole log chips and

sawmill residuals, including woodchips and sawdust, but not wood waste fuel.

Part 3 – K-C Sustainability Strategy 2015 Sustainability Metrics

This section recaps our 2010 sustainability results and describes Sustainability Strategy 2015,

which began implementation in January, 2011.

3.1 K-C 2010 Sustainability Results. December, 2010 marked the conclusion of K-C’s “Vision

2010” program, the third in a series of five-year global initiatives designed to drive improvement

toward energy-, water- and waste-reduction targets. These voluntary environmental targets

were set to make K-C facilities around the world cleaner, safer and more efficient. They

provided a focused and disciplined way to prioritize environmental issues and to demonstrate

progress in key areas of global concerns. Looking back on how far we’ve come, it’s clear that

this program was successful. Among the highlights, K-C:

reduced annual water consumption by 4 billion gallons, or 11%

reduced energy use by 4.3%

reduced carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by 5.1%

For a more complete recap, see p. 15 of our 2010 Sustainability report at

http://www.kimberly-clark.com/sustainability.aspx.

3.2 Sustainability Strategy 2015. Our sustainability 2015 strategy reflects a changing

sustainability landscape. Business is playing an increasing role in ensuring a sustainable

planet. Our customer and stakeholder demands for sustainable solutions are increasing, and

we must deal with resource constraints with developing market growth. For K-C this means:

We create essential products in a sustainable way that are used the world over every day

Our products and practices make our lives and planet better

From diapers to philanthropy – we build relationships for life

Accordingly our Strategy 2015 Sustainability objectives are categorized under three pillars:

People

Planet

Products

For our Sustainability Strategy 2015 we adopted the following objectives, shown below

organized under the three pillars:

People -- Essentials for a better life

• Zero workplace fatalities at K-C

• Socially focused programs in all K-C communities

• 100% compliance of suppliers to K-C social standards

Planet -- Essentials for a better planet

• 25% reduction in K-C’s direct water use, while maintaining quality of discharge

• All fiber purchased from certified suppliers

• 5% absolute reduction in K-C’s greenhouse gas emissions

• Zero K-C manufacturing waste to landfill

Products -- Essentials for a better business

• New 250 million consumers touched by K-C programs

• 25% of 2015 net sales from environmentally innovative products

• 20% reduction in packaging environmental impact

Our expectation is that our suppliers will support our efforts in these areas, especially those

areas relevant to a particular supplier’s business.

Part 4 - Social Sustainability

4.1 UN Global Compact. In 2010 Kimberly-Clark signed on to the United Nations Global

Compact on human rights, labor standards, the environment, and anti-corruption. We have

implemented the following K-C Supplier Social Compliance Standards.

4.2 Compliance with K-C Supplier Social Compliance Standards: Suppliers to K-C are

expected to understand and fully comply with K-C’s Supplier Social Compliance Standards

(SSCS) outlined below. The SSCS communicate Kimberly-Clark’s values and requirements,

which emphasize the importance of having workplace policies and practices that comply, at a

minimum, with applicable environmental laws and with applicable labor laws and regulations.

Our suppliers must follow these requirements and must respond in a timely way to requests for

completion of the Supplier Declaration of Compliance and/or be audited against the SSCS.

These are requirements to continue to do business with Kimberly-Clark:

Prohibit Forced Labor and Abuse of Labor

Protection against Child Labor

Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining

Prohibit Discrimination

Provide a safe and healthy workplace

Wages, benefits and terms of employment

Working Hours

Protection of the Environment

Kimberly-Clark routinely uses independent third-parties to assess suppliers’ compliance with the

SSCS. If such an assessment reveals a supplier is failing to uphold any aspect of the SSCS, the

supplier is expected to provide documentation of the actions planned to resolve any issues and

the timing of completion for such actions.

Part 5 – Closing

K-C Values. Our company values are:

Authentic. Each employee continues our heritage of honesty, integrity and courageously

doing the right thing.

Caring. We respect each other and care for the communities where we live and work.

Innovative. We are committed to new ideas that add value.

Accountable. We take ownership for our business and our future.

As a supplier to Kimberly-Clark, we hope you are as proud of what we do together as we are of

our 57,000 employees and their mission to lead the world in essentials for a better life.

Contact Us. We welcome your comments. Feel free to contact us at:

Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Dept. KCSR, P.O. Box 2020, Neenah, Wisconsin, USA 54957-2020

800-331-3422 (within the United States and Canada)

920-721-8355 (outside of the United States and Canada)

Email: sustainability@kcc.com