The Verdant 360 Blog

The question of the ROI of sustainability is often talked about but not examined nearly as closely as it should be. Yesterday I was at a lunch seminar put on by Corporate Responsibility Officer (CRO) Magazine, Responsible & Sustainable Communications in the Age of Brand Risks. CRO Publisher Jay Whitehead moderated a very informative discussion between Mark Comolli of the Rainforest Alliance and Guy Boucher VP Sustainability at Domtar Paper. The discussion centered around Domtar’s efforts to effectively position their brand as a market leader in the development of sustainable paper sourcing through chain of custody certifications, primarily FSC Certification and Rainforest Alliance certification. In particular it focused on the collaboration between two organization that at first to have divergent interests

A lively discussion took place when the question of ROI was brought up during the question and answer period, and it is clear that ROI is on every-one’s mind. As company’s weigh the costs and associated benefits from the implementation of an effective sustainability strategy, I sense there is still feeling among many that sustainability is high cost low reward scenario. That may be changing, and it should be changing. The challenge is in demonstrating that there are direct ROI benefits from an effectively implemented sustainability strategy.

Interestingly, yesterday morning I received via my RSS feed the following report from the Aberdeen Group, The ROI of Sustainability: Making the Business Case. I highly recommend that you read it. Their research based on interviews with of 200 enterprises came up will the following conclusions.

Using six key performance indicators to distinguish Best-In-Class companies they found that those BIC companies achieved a 6% to 10% reduction in costs while making strides in in retaining customers.

Best-in Class-Performance

• 9% reduction in carbon footprint
• 6% reduction in energy costs
• 7% reduction in facilities costs
• 7% reduction in transportation/logistics costs
• 16% increase in customer retention

The survey showed that the companies identified as Best-In-Class shared the following characteristics:

Competitive Maturity Assessment

• The Best in Class are 52% more likely to incorporate sustainability metrics into value chain performance management
• 74& of the Best-In-Class have an organization wide sustainability policy compared to 58% of all others

The report also highlighted the need d to track, measure and communicate sustainability progress, successes, challenges and areas of opportunity.

-FR

Carbon Footprint, Corporate Social Responsibility, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Uncategorized Carbon Footprint, Chain of Custody, FSC Certification, Sustainability, The Rainforest Alliance

Pictorial Offset’s commitment to sustainability is apparent the moment you pull up to their corporate headquarters. There, right below their logo you see “Registered ISO 9002
& 14001. Indeed, Pictorial Offset was the first company in the world to achieve both ISO 9001:2002 and ISO 14001 certification.

Pictorial Offset’s dedication to the environment began in the 1980’s, when one of the 3 managing partners Donald Samuels saw a PBS special on the effects of chemical dumping by a Massachusetts company and the devastating effect it had on the surrounding community. He made a pledge at that time that, “Pictorial Offset would become the most environmentally conscious and responsible company in our industry.”
Donald, along with his two partner brothers Lester and Gary, made that pledge a reality.

Unlike some companies who make similar statements but fail to implement effective sustainability plans, Pictorial Offset took the opposite approach and incorporated sustainability into their core values. These values are:

• World-Class Manufacturing and Quality
• Passionate Customer Focus
• Environmental Leadership
• Corporate Social Responsibility

Along the way they became leaders in their industry and in their community in demonstrating the business value of a well-implemented sustainability plan.

What they also discovered was that increasingly many of their customers shared these values and wanted to partner with a printer who took sustainability seriously. They won projects when they were not the low bidder but because their customers valued their approach to sustainability. They also found their employees embraced their approach and participated in one of their key programs, planting 5,000 trees at the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge to enable Pictorial to become carbon neutral. This effort marked them as the first printer to become carbon neutral through reforestation.

For Pictorial Offset this commitment also brought recognition and awards. Their list of certifications and program participation includes:

• ISO 14001
• ISO 9001:2002
• Rainforest Alliance Smartwood certification
• Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo
• “Go Zero“-carbon-zero program of The Conservation Fund
• Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)
• USEPA National Environmental Performance Track Program

Throughout their operations you can see the effort that Pictorial has made to create sustainable practices and a responsible business culture. They use energy efficient lighting and motion sensitive lighting throughout the plant to further reduce their carbon footprint. They reduce wherever possible chemical usage, they recycle and they conserve. Most importantly they document their activities to ensure they are in compliance with their ISO 14001 EMS plan. This has enabled them to achieve and document the following milestones:

• VOC emissions reduced by 12% by switching to low-emission solvents
• Solvent reduction of 37% with automatic blanket washers
• Reduced water consumption by 95% over the past 15 years even while doubling the size of the company
• Nearly 12 Million pounds of paper recycled annually
• 25,310 pounds of aluminum recycled in 2007
• 11,000 pounds of ink waste recycled into new ink in 2007
• 16,280 pounds of waste ink sent to chemical processors for fuels blending in 2007

In a letter to his customers Donald Samuels describes Pictorial Offset this way.
“ Pictorial Offset is more than a socially conscious organization. Our management, our employees, and our customers are active participants in improving our community and our world. We hope you will join us in our quest to be responsible participants in our planet’s health and well-being.”

Hopefully, many of us will join.

-FR

Sustainability cabon footprint, Chain of Custody, recycle, Sustainability, VOC

Welcome to The Verdant 360 Blog. As we move forward with a new administration, we are presented with the positive potential of a new approach toward environmental leadership. Not withstanding the enormous financial challenges presented by the recent mortgage and wall street debacles, we need to address the dramatic environmental impact we are having on the earth. If the new administration follows through on the promise they have shown through the campaign, we may finally have an administration that supports environmental initiatives and direct investment in sustainability solutions.

For business leaders this means that we potentially have national leadership that recognizes that sustainable business practices are critically important to the future success of our economy and our society. Business leaders are now challenged to implement sustainability solutions in a very difficult economic environment. Across every aspect of their supply chain they are presented with rising costs and stagnant or diminishing revenue streams.

I believe that the best sustainability plans can be effective, because at it’s core, sustainability is about the efficient allocation of resources and technology. By implementing efficient process and  technology while raising employee awareness, we will inherently reduce waste, lower our carbon footprint, maximize energy usage and ideally improve bottom line performance.

I refrain from using the term “green” as much as possible when discussing supply chain sustainability. To me, it has become  such a marketing buzzword that it obscures the business potential of supply chain sustainability. To many of the operational managers that I speak to, “greening” their businesses implies additional cost but very rarely speaks about the supply efficiencies that business can  gain from a well thought out sustainability plan. And yet, there are many examples of businesses have demonstrated that sustainability provides them with a competitive advantage. You will learn about some of those businesses in this blog.

This blog is for businesses and about businesses. It will focus on process, technology, standards and the importance of execution in the development and implementation of sustainability plans. We will  discuss Carbon Footprint, Chain of Custody, ISO 14000/14001, alternative energy solutions and Corporate Social Responsibility. I will highlight business that have successfully implemented sustainability plans and talk to the leaders that have implemented them. I welcome comment and feedback from all areas of business leadership.

In  1993, the poet Maya Angelou closed her inaugural poem, “On the Pulse of Morning” with the following stanzas:

Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister’s eyes, into
Your brother’s face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope
Good morning.

To all of you, I say “Good Morning.”

-FR

Sustainability Carbon Footprint, Chain of Custody, Corporate Social Responsibility, ISO 14001