Management of Restricted Substances

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Kimberly-Clark has rigorous safety and quality requirements, and we are proud of our long track record of producing safe products. This commitment to safety includes the ingredients used in our products.

We maintain a Restricted Substances List to ensure a consistent, global approach to safeguarding our consumers and the environment from exposure to ingredients of potential concern. And, we are committed to reducing or eliminating restricted substances and to implementing the use of alternatives through our continuous research and development efforts.

Restricted Substances Management at Kimberly-Clark is based on the following principles:
  • Maintain a Restricted Substances List (RSL) for Kimberly-Clark products that contains restricted (limits established by product or material) and prohibited ingredients relevant to Kimberly-Clark products. Suppliers should note that the Kimberly-Clark RSL represents a small subset of chemicals that we prohibit. There are many more chemicals that we would prohibit but do not list since they would not be considered for use in the products we produce.
  • Formally review substances and ingredients in our products to ensure they meet current regulatory requirements and public safety expectations.
  • Proactively monitor and assess new information regarding ingredients published by scientific research and regulatory agencies globally, including public perception, to ensure the RSL remains current.
  • Provide an active process for identification, review and communication of the RSL to enable the proactive development of business strategies to remove and/or reduce specific chemicals of concern, and advance safer alternatives, in some instances above and beyond regulatory requirements.
  • Collaborate with supply chain partners to reduce, eliminate, or manage chemicals identified by Kimberly-Clark on the RSL.
We require our suppliers to adhere to the Kimberly-Clark RSL, and to have processes and systems in place to ensure compliance.