Sustainable Business & Waste Minimization

Sustainable Business Development & Waste Minimization Dave Rice Staff Scientist February 7, 2008

Sustainable Business
“ The business world is waking up to an inevitable and unavoidable truth: The economy and the environment are deeply intertwined.” Daniel C. Esty & Andrew S. Winston, Green to Gold
“ Continued human progress now depends on an economic transformation that is more profound than any seen in the last century. We should be practicing a sustainable approach to economics that takes advantage of the ability of markets to allocate scarce resources while explicity recongizing that our economy is dependant on the broader ecosystem that contains it.” 17 Christopher Flavin, President of Worldwatch

Sustainable Business Development- Waste Reduction
What is sustainable business?
What is behind sustainable business development?
Are corporations integrating sustainable business practices?
What does the future hold for sustainable business practices?
Waste Minimization
Waste minimization in healthcare
A waste minimization case study
How can August Mack help your corporation?

What is Sustainable Business?
The Sustainable Business Institute defines the following:
Sustainability - the ability to meet today's global economic, environmental and social needs without compromising the same opportunity for future generations.
Business Sustainability - the opportunity for business to improve its profitability, competitiveness, and market share without compromising resources for future generations.
(www.sustainablebusiness.org)

International environmental regulations:
REACH (Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals) implemented June 1, 2007.
“ W ill require manufacturers and importers to gather information on the properties of their substances and register the information in a central database.” 1
“ Gives greater responsibility to industry to manage the risks from chemicals and to provide safety information on the substances. 2
“ Manufacturers and importers will be required to gather information on the properties of their substances, which will help them manage them safely, and to register the information in a central database.” 2

International environmental regulations:
Kyoto Protocol, signed December 1997, effective February 16th, 2005 3
“ legally binding agreement under which industrialized countries will reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.2% compared to the year 1990” 3
“ The goal is to lower overall emissions of six greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, HFCs, and PFCs. . .” 4
“ As of December 2006, a total of 169 countries and other governmental entities have ratified the agreement. . . Notable exceptions include the United States and Australia.” 5

International environmental agreements:
The Basel Convention:
“ Protect human health and the environment by minimizing hazardous waste production whenever possible.” 18
The Stockholm Convention on Persistant Organic Pollutants:
“ Global treaty to protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants (POPs). 18
The United States has signed both agreements.

United States regulations:
RCRA, Resource and Conservation Recovery Act, 1976
Toxic Substances Control Act, 1976
Clean Water Act, 1977
Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act, 1986
Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act, 1986
Pollution Prevention Act, 1990
Sarbanes-Oxley, 2002
Medical Waste Tracking Act (MWTA), 1988

Public opinion
Increasing brand value
Decreasing natural resources
Geo-political conflicts
Threat of terrorism
Potential catastrophic natural disasters
NGOs and watchdog groups
Politics
Economics (575 environmental & energy hedge funds in the last 2 years 17 )
Market steak-holders
Academia
Industry organizations
Employees

Here are some recent article titles from GreenBiz.com:
“ Sustainability Reporting More Common Among Top Global Brands” 6
“ Businesses Embracing Green Procurement, Survey Finds” 7
“ Sony Cuts Power Consumption in 90 Percent of its Products” 8
“ Merrill Lynch Offers New Energy Efficiency Index” 9
“ Wal-Mart Canada to Begin Sustainable Supply Chain Practices” 10
“ DOE Hires Honeywell To Help It Cut Energy Consumption” 11

“ Some of the most powerful players in today’s economy have announced breakthrough environmental initiatives in the past two years, including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Kleiner Perkins, Caufield & Byers, McKinsey & Company, and Wal-Mart. And many large companies are putting their political muscle where their investment capital is: 27 major corporations including Alcoa, Dow Chemical, Duke Energy, General Motors, and Xerox; are actively urging the U.S. Congress to pass legislation regulating greenhouse gas emissions-something that would have been unthinkable two years ago.” 17 Worldwatch Institute, Jan. 10, 2008.

3M
Pollution Prevention Pays (3P) Program
Works to “eliminate the pollution before it happens” 12
IKEA
IKEA Way on Purchasing Home Furnishing Products (IWAY)
A supplier auditing system that rates suppliers on “social and environmental performance” 13
IKEA “works closely with suppliers to bring them up to snuff” 13

Subaru
“ Fuji Heavy Industries takes into consideration a recycling-oriented society 15 years in the future” 14
Wal-Mart
Sustainability Efforts/Goals 15 :
“ To be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy,”
“ To create zero waste,”
“ To sell products that sustain both its resources and the environment”

What does the future hold for sustainable business?
“Green” Companies are and will continue to be in demand:
Merrill Lynch has recently offered a new Energy Efficiency Index (EEI).
This market index “identifies companies where less is more, at least in terms of energy consumption and CO 2 emissions.” 9
This index joins the already established Merrill Lynch indices of Renewable Energy, Uranium, and Emerging Markets Infrastructure. 9
A survey conducted by EyeForProcurement, “notes that customers from all sectors and all countries are increasingly demanding eco-friendly products and services.” 7

What does the future hold for sustainable business?
With the dynamic nature of environmental regulations corporations of all sizes are beginning to see the value in addressing environmental issues before they become environmental problems.
The increased transparency of the world through the internet, 24-hour news services, and corporate reporting (Sarbanes-Oxley) has increased the vulnerability of companies to environmental “watchdog” groups. By properly addressing environmental issues, companies can utilize sustainable business operations to not only gain a competitive market edge, but also to demonstrate that it is striving to operating in a environmentally and socially responsible manner.

Waste Minimization

How does waste minimization relate to sustainable business development?
It is important to remember that waste is not just trash, waste issues encompass inefficient energy use, wastewater, air emissions, labor, and a host of other components that are too often overlooked when thinking about waste management.
To successfully operate in a sustainable business environment, organizations must work towards minimizing the amount of waste that is sent out of a facility, waste generated within the facility, and waste that is brought into a facility.
“ Waste reduction programs are designed to provide economic benefits through the reduction of operational costs by implementing proper waste management in all facilities” Business Guide to Waste Reduction and Recycling, Xerox Corporation

Waste Minimization in Healthcare
U.S. EPA Profile of the Healthcare Industry 19
“ Studies indicate that one percent of all solid waste produced in the U.S. is generated by healthcare facilities.”
“ According to the information published in the SHEA A position paper on medical waste, the U.S. healthcare industry generates 6,670 tons per day of waste, most of which is solid municipal waste. In January 1992, it was estimated that about 15 percent of this waste was infectious waste, or about 1,000 tons per day.”
A “ Rutala WA, Mayhall CG, “The Society for Hospital Epidemiology of America Position Paper: Medical Waste” Infection Control Hospital Epidemiology 1992; 13:38-48.

U.S. EPA and the Healthcare Industry
In 1998, The American Hospital Association (AHA) and the U.S. EPA signed an agreement to advance pollution prevention efforts in U.S. hospitals. With the stated goals being: 20
Virtually eliminate mercury containing waste from the health care waste stream,
Reduce the overall volume of waste (both regulated and non-regulated), and
Identify hazardous substances for pollution prevention and waste reduction opportunities, with emphasis on hazardous wastes.
Out of this agreement came the Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E), later becoming the Partnership for Sustainable Healthcare (PSH ) . 20

Pharmaceutical Hazardous Wastes
D, P and U-listed hazardous waste;
Trace and hazardous chemotherapy wastes;
Regulated medical wastes (RMW);
Characteristic hazardous wastes;
Controlled substances;
Sharps;

A Waste Minimization Case Study

2007- A large multi-national rubber manufacturing corporation announces a Zero Waste to Landfill initiative for all of its global operations.
April 2007- August Mack (Dublin) embeds a full-time consultant at the facility to assist the plant Environmental Coordinator during this process.

A review of the facility’s waste metric report revealed that in 2006 over 6.2 million pounds of waste were sent to landfill, of which:
3.1 million pounds was product waste, consisting of cured rubber belt trim, cured rubber belt ends, rubber coated fabric, and defective materials.
3.1 million pounds of wastes were recycled.
Roughly 50% of wastes are recycled, sounds good right?

NOT SO FAST!
This volume of waste, particularly the product waste, being sent to the landfill represents a clear contradiction to operating in a sustainable manner.
SO HOW DO WE WORK TOWARDS OPERATING IN A MORE SUSTAINABLE AND SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE MANNER?

What is this facility doing to minimize its waste?
Established an office paper reduction program, which included the promotion of utilizing both sides of the paper when printing or copying and saving paper that has only been used once for scrap paper.
Initiated a junk mail reduction program by contacting mailers and asking them to remove former employees from their mailing lists.
Developed a successful paper recycling partnership with Abitibi Consolidated. (Abitibi-Consolidated is among the largest recyclers of newspapers and magazines in North America).

What is this facility doing to minimize its waste? (continued)
Launched a waste mapping project in which each manufacturing process, throughout the plant, was examined for the types of waste generated at each step of the process, how each waste is handled, where it is moved to after it is generated, and who removes the waste from the facility.
These maps help the facility to accurately identify the who, what, when, and where of its waste generation.

What is this facility doing to minimize its waste? (continued):
Boosting polyethylene recycling efforts.
Optimizing the amount of re-usable rubber compounds being re-used in the plant or being sent back to mix plants.
Increasing scrap metal recycling efforts.
Intensifying un-cured rubber recycling efforts.

What is this facility doing to minimize its waste? (continued):
“ Waste walks” with plant representatives from Production, Quality Assurance, and Development where wastes are examined for potential plant re-use, discussions of why the wastes are being generated, and how they can be reduced.
Increasing employee awareness about the waste reduction program and general waste issues facing the plant.
Placed signs behind collection roll-offs to clearly identify the final waste collection point for scrap metal, cured rubber, and general waste.

What results are the waste minimization program producing?
Successes:
From April to December 2007 the total waste sent to landfill has been reduced by 8%, non-production waste has been reduced by 70% and disposal costs have been reduced by 14% when compared to the waste totals from April to December 2006.
Junk mail and mail addressed to former employees received weekly has dramatically decreased.
Over three (3) tons of paper has been recycled by Abitibi-Consolidated. Saving an estimated 13,836 KWH of energy.
In plant, re-useable rubber use is increasing.

What results are the waste minimization program producing? (continued) :
Successes:
Production processes are being examined to discover how and why they are generated waste and how those wastes can be reduced through process modification.
A steel cable belt press has been modified to allow two (2) separate belts to be cured at the same time.
A ply-up process has been modified to reduce the amount of “side trimming” required once the belt is cured.

What results are the waste minimization program producing? (continued) :
Successes:
Increased scrap metal, cured rubber, uncured rubber, and polyethylene recycling efforts.
Associates are beginning to recognize the value that the program adds to their workplace environment as well as actively makeing suggestions and recommendations to improve the program.

What results are the waste minimization program producing? (continued):
Obstacles:
The inability of certain vendors to handle the volume of waste this facility sent them, decreased recycling rates and increased landfill volume and costs.
Recyclable wastes are not always properly handled or staged in the appropriate collection points.
No waste handling specific manpower is available, to date.
Plant culture of: “It’s not my job.”

August Mack Services

Waste and Energy
Emissions baselines;
Carbon Footprint calculations;
Identify alternative energy opportunities and strategies;
Energy and waste audits/mapping;
Environmental feasibility studies;
Environmental metrics development, monitoring, and reporting;
Environmental permitting and assessments

Sustainable Infrastructure
Sustainable building assessments;
Identify opportunities for LEED certification credits;
Property condition assessments;
Environmental site assessments and remediation;
Lead, asbestos, indoor air quality surveys;
Supply chain and vendor environmental assessments;
Product life cycle analysis (LCA);
Product end of useful life management;
Land use, naturalization

Education, Policy, and Monitoring
Develop and lead sustainability workshops for employees;
Education and awareness training;
Sustainable operations policy and implementation;
Establish sustainability benchmarks and metrics;
Sustainability audits;
Cost benefit analysis studies;
Management support;
Develop Corporate Social Responsibility Reports (CSR)

Conclusions
“The problems aren’t getting any better” 16
“The political will is finally emerging” 16
“Consumers are waking up” 16
“The supply chain is gaining power” 16
“The environment has become a fiduciary issue” 16
“More companies are telling their stories” 16
“There’s money to be made” 16

Questions? Please Contact Dave Rice at (614) 798-9925 or drice@augustmack.com

Footnotes/References
State of California, Department of Toxic Substances Control ( www.dtsc.ca.gov/PollutionPrevention/REACH.cfm )
European Union (http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/reach/reach_intro.htm)
Kyoto Protocol (www.kyotoprotocol.com/)
United Nations Environment Programme (1997-12-11). Industrialized countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 5.2% . Press release. Retrieved on 2007-08-06. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol)
Kyoto Protocol: Status of Ratification, 10 July 2006 (PDF). UNFCC. Retrieved on October 30, 2006. Climate Action Network Europe: Ratification Calendar. Retrieved on October 30, 2006. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol)
Sustainability Reporting More Common Among Top Global Brands , GreenBiz.com, (www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=35569)
Businesses Embracing Green Procurement, Survey Finds, GreenBiz.com, (www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=35590)
Sony Cuts Power Consumption in 90 Percent of its Products, GreenBiz.com, (www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=35602)
Merrill Lynch Offers New Energy Efficiency Index, GreenBiz.com, (www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=35599)
Wal-Mart Canada to Begin Sustainable Supply Chain Practices, GreenBiz.com, (www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=35533)

Footnotes/References
DOE Hires Honeywell To Help It Cut Energy Consumption, GreenBiz.com, (www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=35604)
Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage, Daniel C. Esty and Andrew S. Winston. “Pollution Prevention Pays” Pg 106-107.
Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage, Daniel C. Esty and Andrew S. Winston. “IKEA’s Supply Chain Redesign and the Staircase Model” Pg 202-203.
Subaru and The Earth Striving to Preserve and Improve Our World for Future Generations. Recycling-Returning More, (http://drivesubaru.com/fall04_subaruandtheearth.htm)
Trendsetters: Paving the Way To A Cleaner World, Wal-Mart, Insulation Outlook August 2007, (www.insulationoutlook.com)
Is There a Green Business Bubble?, Joel Makower Two Steps Forward, (http://makower.typepad.com/joel_makower/2007/05/is_there_a_gree.html)
Adam Smith, Meet Mother Earth, Worldwatch Institute, January 10, 2008.
World Health Organization, Healthcare Waste Management, http://www.healthcarewaste.org/en/http/en/130_hcw_intagreemts.html.
Profile of the Healthcare Industry, February 2005. EPA Office of Compliance Sector Notebook Project, Office of Compliance, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW (MC 224-A), Washington, D.C. 20460
Hospitals for a Healthy Environment; www.h2e-online.org.

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Sustainable Business & Waste Minimization

by Dave Rice

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