Kimberly-Clark Corporation has received the 2012 Circle of Excellence award from the Distribution Business Management Association (DBMA), a leading business and academic forum. The award recognizes Kimberly-Clark’s leadership in sustainability and environmentally responsible supply chain management.

DBMA selected K-C as this year’s winner for its Sustainability 2015 strategy, which focuses on three pillars:

• People: Ensuring K-C’s business practices are beneficial to employees and the communities where it operates and markets its products.

• Planet: Using sustainable environmental practices to ensure K-C’s ability to grow under constrained global resources.

• Products: Innovating products and business models to reach emerging customers.

“What Kimberly-Clark has done and is committed to do is really quite impressive,” says Amy Thorn, DBMA executive director. “The multi-faceted ‘People, Planet and Products’ framework of Kimberly-Clark’s Sustainability 2015 initiative illustrates a continued commitment to responsible business practices and policies and has earned them this year’s Circle of Excellence Award.”

“Sustainability is no longer only in the realm of our operations—it has grown to include virtually every function, every brand and every business at Kimberly-Clark,” says Suhas Apte, vice president, Global Sustainability. “We are honored to accept this prestigious award, which recognizes the efforts of K-C employees worldwide who are helping us every day build a sustainable, growing enterprise.”

DBMA presents the annual Circle of Excellence award to companies in various industries. The award honors those or­gan­i­zations that demonstrate the highest standards of important business attributes and characteristics, including consistency, integrity, responsibility, commitment, leadership and excellence in the areas of sustainability and supply chain management. Recent recipients include PepsiCo, the Hershey Company, Chiquita Brands and Staples among several other leading organizations.