Dumpster diving isn’t in the job description for most professionals, but when your mandate is to reduce waste and mitigate your company’s environmental footprint, a rifle through the garbage can translate into savings.
That’s what happened during a recent expedition at Husky Injection Molding Systems when a team member came across some wire, spurring a revision of the 55-year-old company’s recycling program. “It’s a continuous process,” Glenn Atkinson, director of environment, health and safety at Husky, says of the plastic moulding equipment manufacturer’s efforts to be more environmentally friendly.
It’s a process that’s paying off. The Bolton, Ont.-based multinational, with more than 40 offices around the globe, recycles 94% of the waste from its headquarters that would normally be bound for landfills. Robert Schad, Husky’s founder, has a strong interest in the environment, Atkinson explains. “The other strong driver was to be efficient and reduce waste.”
Sweeping changes across all aspects of the business have generated savings in the millions. When it comes to reducing waste, for example, nothing is overlooked. Dripping taps are fixed immediately, cafeteria waste is composted, and old binders are stripped so the vinyl can be recycled. Husky even generates more than $1 million in revenue by sorting and reselling discarded steel and plastic that a decade ago would have gone to landfill.
Another major focus is saving energy by incorporating efficient lighting, heating, cooling and insulation into all of its buildings. “We’ve become 35% more ener-gy efficient over a period of five or six years,” says Atkinson. In addition, Husky cut back on air travel by equipping all sites with videoconferencing equipment, staff use bikes to navigate the 70-acre Bolton campus and the company fleet is comprised of hybrid vehicles. “In all of the cases there is very rapid payback,” says Atkinson. “It’s not just that they’re the right thing for the environment, but they’re also very financially sound.”
It’s a message Bob Willard, a Whitby, Ont.-based expert on corporate sustainability strategies, is taking to executives around the globe. “Being socially and environmentally responsible does not impede business success; it accelerates it by avoiding risks and adding to the bottom line,” says Willard. His research shows that by integrating sustainability strategies into the fabric of business, large companies can increase profits by a minimum of 38% over five years, while small to medium-sized companies can increase profits by a minimum of 66%.
What’s good for the environment is good for the bottom line, adds Julia Langer, director of the global threats program at World Wildlife Fund Canada. “A good part of our productivity gap is energy inefficiency,” she says of the money that companies throw away by ignoring environmental issues. “Business is a huge contributor to the problem and has huge potential to be part of the solution.”
Not convinced that turning off a few lights really makes a difference? Last summer Wal-Mart Canada reduced lighting in its stores by one-third, taking care not to impede the shopping experience. “We saved $1.5 million in energy costs,” says Andrew Pelletier, director of corporate affairs at Wal-Mart Canada. By 2009, all existing Wal-Mart stores will be at least 20% more efficient and new stores will be 30% more efficient. “We expect in five years we’ll save $20 million through energy and waste reduction,” says Pelletier. “To us that says it all.”
And that’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the retail giant’s green outlook. The company is on its way to meeting the mandate set out nearly three years ago to produce zero waste, consume only green energy and offer more earth-friendly products.
Last year Wal-Mart partnered with The Carbon Disclosure Project to engage its supply chain to report climate change-relevant information, such as greenhouse gas emissions, reduction targets and strategies for dealing with climate change. Wal-Mart’s size and reach means companies around the globe will have to evaluate and reduce their carbon footprint. With Wal-Mart’s goal to reduce packaging by 5% in five years, for example, every company it does business with will have to meet new standards. (see “Small is Beautiful” on p. 26)
The Conference Board of Canada’s Carbon Disclosure Project, released in October 2007, shows companies are increasingly aware of the business risks and opportunities posed by climate change. It also reveals that they’re being forced to be more responsive to investor requests for information about carbon risk strategies-as a result a growing number are taking steps to manage their exposure. Scotiabank recently raised the bar with its Scotia Global Climate Change Fund, designed for investors interested in environmentally responsible companies that offer solid returns.
Thomas Mooney, who last July was named Fiji Water’s first senior vice-president for sustainable growth, agrees. With annual global sales of about $150 million, the California company is a small player in the $15-billion bottled water industry, but it’s a leader when it comes to sustainable business practices.
“Often it’s easier to be the smaller guy because you can move much more quickly,” Mooney says. The privately owned company is introducing a comprehensive program that includes reducing packaging by 20% over three years, installing a windmill to power its plant in Fiji, using biodiesel and alternative fuels to run its trucks, buying offsets to account for any emissions it can’t eliminate and supporting several conservation projects. It’s a daring move, investing what will add up to tens of millions of dollars in dozens of projects that will completely shake up a business that was happily chugging along and enjoying steady growth.
No one says change is easy. It’s just proving to be necessary for forward-thinking businesses. “There are lots of objections to doing more than a company is already,” says Willard. Two excuses he hears repeatedly from companies is they don’t have enough money or time. “They assume sustainability programs are akin to philanthropic programs. Only when sustainability strategies are reframed as catalysts to existing business priorities like profit, revenue, expense savings, and employee productivity do these push-backs disappear.”
As for dumpster diving, smart business leaders recognize the value of getting your hands dirty when it leads to improved efficiencies, massive savings, strong customer relations and, of course, saving the planet.
