Sustainability – It’s Not Just for “Greening” Anymore

by Buckley Brinkman

WMEP Executive Director

Sustainability is much more than a “nice-to-have” buzzword. It’s becoming an important part of companies’ strategies. New approaches to sustainability are creating breakthrough results, rather than the incremental improvements that come from following the green paths started in the 1970s. WMEP's Profitable Sustainability Initiative (PSI) provides one way to capture those breakthrough changes quickly and effectively.

Sustainability is a critical concern in organizations’ futures. Natural resources are dwindling, with more and more operations competing for fewer and fewer sources. Waste also costs more as raw material costs rise and regulations tighten disposal requirements. Failing to take sustainability seriously creates new types of exposure with customers and the marketplace. More and more customers are requiring their suppliers to comply with sustainability standards. Organizations not addressing sustainability can be locked out of opportunities. In addition, increased transparency, resulting from the free flow of information over the Internet and social media makes it much easier to monitor any activity. That means any missteps can be quickly revealed and communicated.

The new requirements and exposures necessitate innovative approaches to sustainability. The present green approach, focusing on energy savings and recycling, can trace its roots to the original Earth Day in 1970. Forty years of efforts have made great progress in energy use and recycling, reducing the opportunity for significant additional savings. A wider and more comprehensive view is necessary to produce the breakthroughs that can generate the returns required to justify capital investments in new technologies.

The Profitable Sustainability Initiative (PSI) provides an effective approach for small and medium manufacturers. The process expands the search for sustainability improvements beyond the traditional limits of energy, recycling, or reuse savings. Our approach looks at the entire enterprise for opportunities to reduce environmental impact and simultaneously improve performance. PSI provides real information on carbon footprint, the organization’s environmental impact, and economic returns, providing clear prioritization of the most leveraged projects.

The State of Wisconsin provided funding for a PSI pilot program to test this new model. Forty-five companies participated with 87 projects that will generate more than $54 million in economic impact over five years. The projects engage all areas of the operation, from logistics to process improvements – focusing on the areas that provide the greatest savings and measureable environmental impact reduction. The PSI program demonstrates that sustainability and performance are not mutually exclusive.

PSI makes sustainability more than a buzzword: It is now a critical part of a company’s ability to be competitive. Next Generation Manufacturers will use approaches like PSI to improve performance across multiple dimensions while also reducing environmental impact. Sustainability – and PSI – is just smart for business.