Tag: sustainability

OM in the News: Greening the Economy Can Be a Dirty Job

In a decarbonizing global economy, metals may be the new oil. Demand for copper, nickel, cobalt and lithium is likely to surge in the next two decades because of their importance to clean energy technologies, writes Financial Times (Oct.26, 2021)

Cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo has problems with dangerous conditions and child labor

This will have wide-reaching implications for the countries that produce them. The Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, accounts for about 70% of global cobalt output. Yet cobalt mining there has well-documented problems that raise questions about the human labor required to help turn the global economy green.

The term “green jobs” summons up images of people planting trees, insulating homes and working in spotless factories to build electric cars. The investment industry also has a tendency to conflate “good for the environment” with “good for employees” in corporate ESG ratings. But if the term “green job” means any occupation which helps to restore or preserve the environment, then it applies just as much to someone mining cobalt as to someone making wind turbine blades.

The truth is that some jobs involved in greening the economy are dirty and dangerous, and not just the ones in mines. We tend to associate the word ‘green’ with safety — but what is good for the environment is not necessarily good for the safety and health of workers who are employed in green jobs.

The recycling industry provides an example. While it is important to reduce the amount of goods going to landfill, recycling jobs can be hazardous, low paid and insecure. The rate of fatal injuries in the sector is 17 times higher than the average across all industries. In the U.S., workers in e-waste recycling centers can be overexposed to lead and cadmium. (In one case, a worker’s small children suffered lead poisoning after he inadvertently brought lead home on his clothes and in his hair).

These problems could be improved by encouraging manufacturers to change the design of new products so that they can be disassembled and recycled more safely, our topic in Supplement 5 of the text. That means designing products so they can be repaired independently, providing manuals and making spare parts available. This should help reduce waste as well as provide new skilled jobs.

We are not making an argument against greening the economy. Many carbon-intensive jobs are dirty and dangerous too, and we will all suffer if we don’t tackle climate change.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. What does “design for disassembly” mean?
  2. Why is cobalt mining a part of green energy/

OM in the News: What It Takes to Go to a Circular Economy

We take resources from the earth. We make things out of them for use. And then, we throw away whatever is left. The cost is borne out not only in landfills, but also through emissions, as our consumption fuels the climate degradation.

 Shifting a “linear economy” toward circularity requires major changes to business and operating models, supply chains, and B2B and B2C consumer behavior. Yet circular solutions can contribute to a better future. We discuss this “circular economy” in Supp. 5 (see p. 197).

The World Economic Forum recently brought together four industry leaders whose ideas on what it takes to go circular are summarized below:

First exec: For mature companies, the mindset shift means making investments in areas where there may not be imminent business value or impact. For those at the beginning of this journey, it can start with small steps towards replacing existing materials (such as packaging) with more sustainable and economically viable alternatives. These small steps can have huge short-term impacts and set the path toward more systemic changes in the future.

Second exec: Start by developing a clear picture of global end-to-end impact, including supply, production and use of material flows. Embed a circularity mindset and principles across all parts of the company, starting with business strategy, innovation process, capital allocation, HR management and rewards, brand positioning, marketing, etc. Sustainability commitments then become an integral part of a company’s purpose and culture.

Third exec: It is important to look at your pillars and targets day by day. Success isn’t measured overnight, and each milestone resets with a new target. Staying committed to the course is what ultimately changes behaviors and mindsets and garners results. Five key pillars underpin the strategy: (1) understanding organizational resource flows to reduce waste; (2) implementing internal systems to maximize the value of resources: (3) supporting supply chain to progress towards circularity; (4) engaging with customers to help them make circular choices; and (5) supporting innovation to accelerate the global transition to a circular economy.

Fourth exec: The transformation spans decades, so there is a “before” the transformation, but not yet an “after”. To start the transformation, it will help to define circular objectives for the company overall as well as for all areas of the company, so all areas of the company can contribute. Attention has to be paid to sustainability and circular economy. Messaging has to be consistent and repeated by line management.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. How has a company you are familiar with moved towards circularity?
  2. Summarize the key points of the executives quoted.

OM in the News: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Let’s begin the week with a “good news, bad news” story about what we can do to save our planet. First, the bad news.

In the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and California floats a massive collection of debris that has long been accumulating trash — from fishing nets to microplastics — known to be harmful to the marine environment. For years, researchers said it might not be possible to remove this Great Pacific Garbage Patch. One of the largest marine debris patches in the world, there are at least 79,000 tons of plastic inside the Patch’s 1.6 million-square-kilometer area. Microplastics (plastic materials smaller than 5 centimeters) make up 8% of the mass, but 94% of the 1.8 trillion pieces of debris floating in the area.

Ocean Cleanup’s massive trash haul on October 8, 2021

Marine garbage patches such as this are large areas where debris collects. The aquatic piles are formed by rotating currents called “gyres,” which are like “big whirlpools that pull objects in.” There are five gyres in our oceans — one in the Indian, 2 in the Atlantic and 2 in the Pacific. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the most famous of these piles.

More than 24 trillion pounds of plastic is dumped into oceans ever year. And without immediate and sustained action, the annual flow of pollution could triple by 2040. “Without meaningful change, about 4 billion people worldwide are likely to be without organized waste collection services by 2040, contributing significantly to the projected amount of ocean plastic pollution,” said a 2020 Pew Charitable Trusts study.

Now the good news! In July, The Ocean Cleanup non-profit, which has been developing a system to help clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, took its first large-scale cleanup system, called System 002, to the Pacific. They conducted a series of tests consisting of System 002 being taken offshore to safely gather plastic from the ocean. Just last week, according to CBS News (Oct. 16, 2021), The Ocean Cleanup tweeted it had gathered about 20,000 pounds of debris. (See the photo).

System 002 works by two boats slowly guiding a U-shaped barrier through the polluted area. The circulating currents in the garbage patch move the plastic around, which helps guide that plastic into a retention zone. Workers then empty the plastic onto the marine vessel. They take the plastic to shore to recycle, and The Ocean Cleanup reuses some of the materials gathered to make products. The group predicts it could remove 90% of all floating ocean plastic by 2040.

Critics stress that “priorities should be set on preventing plastic from entering the ocean.”

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. How is this an OM issue? (Hint: see Supp. 5 in your Heizer/Render/Munson text).
  2. Are the critics right?

OM in the News: The Murderous Wind Turbines

We don’t see many power-generating wind turbines here in Florida, but they were ubiquitous as we vacationed out West a few weeks ago. The turbines and solar energy (more common in Florida) are cited as the future of clean energy and sustainability–our topic in Supplement 5 of your OM text.

wind turbines

But the wind turbines—some with 200-foot blades spinning up to 180 mph—are estimated to kill as many as 500,000 birds a year through accidental collisions, according to The Wall Street Journal (June 6, 2021). Wildlife researchers in 2013 estimated that the Energy Department’s 2008 wind-power target would push bird deaths to about 1.4 million annually. That figure hasn’t been updated to reflect the Biden administration’s plans to expand offshore wind farms.

Federal law has led to penalties for two wind farms.  Duke Energy agreed to spend $600,000 a year on a compliance plan, on top of $1 million in penalties, aimed at preventing bird deaths at several wind-turbine projects in Wyoming, where 14 golden eagles and 149 other protected birds had been killed. Also in Wyoming, PacifiCorp was fined $2.5 million for bird deaths.

Wind turbines, however, are far from the biggest hazard to birds; nearly 600 million birds die each year from crashing into windows. Both the National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society support the expansion of wind power on grounds that greenhouse gas emissions and climate change pose a far bigger threat to birds than turbines. Wind-turbine companies use several methods to deter bird deaths, including noisy devices that birds want to avoid, as well as locating the turbines in areas away from common flight paths.

One promising new technology dubbed IdentiFlight involves sky-scanning robots that use artificial intelligence and alert the company to stop the blades from spinning as birds approach. Duke Energy installed the IdentiFlight technology in 2015, after the bird-death fine, at a 110-turbine wind farm in Wyoming and it reduced eagle deaths by 82%.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. Do the benefits outweigh the negatives of wind turbines?
  2. How does this relate to the triple bottom line (see page 195)?

OM in the News: Inside the Race to Power Electric Vehicles

Atop a long-dormant volcano in northern Nevada, workers are preparing to start blasting and digging out a giant pit that will serve as the first new large-scale lithium mine in the U.S. in more than a decade — a new domestic supply of an essential ingredient in electric car batteries and renewable energy. The mine, on federal lands, could help address the near total reliance on foreign sources of lithium.

But the project, known as Lithium Americas, has drawn protests from a Native American tribe, ranchers and environmental groups because it is expected to use billions of gallons of precious ground water, potentially contaminating some of it for 300 years, while leaving behind a giant mound of waste

lithium mines

The fight over the Nevada mine is emblematic of a fundamental tension surfacing around the world: Electric cars and renewable energy may not be as green as they appear, writes The New York Times (May 7, 2021). Production of raw materials like lithium, cobalt and nickel that are essential to these technologies are often ruinous to land, water, wildlife and people. In addition to Nevada, businesses have proposed lithium production sites in California, Oregon, Tennessee, Arkansas and North Carolina.

Traditional mining is one of the dirtiest businesses out there. Its environmental toll has often been overlooked in part because there is a race underway among the U.S., China, Europe and other major powers. Echoing past contests and wars over gold and oil, governments are fighting for supremacy over minerals that could help countries achieve economic and technological dominance for decades to come.

“Our new clean-energy demands could be creating greater harm, even though its intention is to do good,” says the head of a group that vets mines for carmakers.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. Why is this an OM issue?
  2. What is China’s strategy regarding “rare earths” such as lithium?

OM in the News: Is Your Plastic Recycled?

Five decades after the future of plastics was extolled in the famous 1967 film “The Graduate,” the U.S. manufactured 36 million tons of the stuff in a single year– 17 times the amount produced when the movie was released.

But as demand for plastics has grown, so has concern over the waste, reports The Wall Street Journal (April 24-25, 2021). More than 90% of plastics generated in the U.S. each year winds up in landfills or incinerators. Only about 9% is recycled.

Recyclables piled up in this New Jersey warehouse, but most plastics go to landfills or incinerators.

The largest category is containers and packaging, including water bottles, milk jugs and detergent bottles. In 2018, more than 14.5 million tons was manufactured, but less than 2 million tons, or 13%, was recycled.

Plastics that have the potential to be recycled are stamped with a triangle made of three arrows enclosing a resin-identification code—a digit from 1 to 7 that indicates the type of plastic—but the presence of the emblem doesn’t guarantee the waste will be reused, even if it makes it into a recycling bin.

“People think a lot more is being recycled than is actually being recycled,” said the author of “Can I Recycle This?” “Most of it is low-value and doesn’t have a buyer.” From the curbside, it’s generally the 1s and 2s and some of the 5s. Anything else, recyclers have to pay to get rid of it.

In the past, the U.S. shipped low-value plastic waste to China, but in 2017, China said it would ban the import of most plastic waste, causing the market for those plastics to dry up.

No. 1 plastics, including water bottles and clear plastic cups, sell for 13 cents a pound. Clear (meaning undyed) No. 2 plastics, including milk jugs and shampoo and detergent bottles, fetch 60-70 cents a pound. And No. 5 plastics, including yogurt containers, prescription bottles and bottle caps, draw 30 cents a pound. So there’s a great future in plastics–as “The Graduate” tells–but only if the waste can be managed.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. Give some examples of how companies can be less wasteful in plastic use. (See Supp. 5–Sustainability in the Supply Chain).
  2. How can we, as consumers, use less plastic?

 

OM in the News: Crypotocurrency’s Damage to the Environment

Bitcoin mining is consuming 66 times more electricity than it did back in late 2015, and the carbon emissions associated with it will likely face increasing scrutiny, according to BusinessWeek (April 13, 2021).

As of this month, global power demand by the Bitcoin network reached an annualized 143 terawatt-hours, about 4% higher than Argentina’s total electricity generation in 2019. “As the value of Bitcoin rises, so should its energy consumption,” says Citigroup analysts.

bitcoin

Carbon emissions related to cryptocurrencies have become a concern for climate watchers amid a surge in Bitcoin mining in China (where 2/3 of the mining takes place), and where the electricity for such operations is partly supplied by coal-fired plants. The expansion of Bitcoin mining may face increasing regulations because of its climate impact.

“Mining and use of these ‘coins’ is energy-intensive and could face greater regulatory scrutiny as adoption expands, especially if the U.S. continues to scale its crypto footprint and market-leader China cracks down on Bitcoin mining if it adversely impacts its climate goals,” says Citigroup.

Miners process Bitcoin transactions through vast arrays of computers that require huge amounts of energy to run. The mining’s heavy energy usage is due to its reliance on “proof of work”–a computing method that is designed to be inefficient to keep currencies transparent and decentralized. Proof of work forces miners to solve crypotographic puzzles in an intense race of trial and error, with computers making 160 quintillion attempts per second to produce a new block. This competition keeps immense numbers of computers working at top speed, 24/7 all over the world.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. How is this an OM issue?
  2. How does bitcoin mining impact sustainability (see Supp. 5 in your Heizer/Render/Munson text)?

Teaching Tip: Explaining a Crossover Chart

The Wall Street Journal (March 23, 2021) tackles a question in many minds, namely, are EVs better for the environment than their gas-fueled counterparts? The researchers find that Teslas generate 65% more carbon dioxide emissions than the Toyotas (because of the metals needed for lithium-ion batteries) before they roll off the assembly lines. Then the tide starts to turn and we hit crossover at 20,600 miles driven. The RAV4 burns gas, refined from crude oil. The Tesla refills with electricity, which still burns coal but is getting cleaner each year with more renewables and natural gas. By 200,000 miles, the lifespan of a typical car, the emissions comparison is no longer close.

wsj article

How quickly the U.S. fleet of 280 million cars and pickups switches to EVs will have a huge impact on the country’s overall emissions. They currently contribute 17% of the U.S. total.

We think this graph may pique your students’ attention when you cover crossover charts in Chapter 7, Process Strategies, or when you discuss life cycle ownership in Example S2 in Supplement 5, Sustainabilty.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. What assumptions are made in this analysis?
  2. When do you think EVs will take over for gas-powered vehicles in the U.S.?

OM in the News: Coke Goes 100% Recycled

Coca-Cola will soon begin selling sodas in completely recycled plastic in the U.S. for the first time, reports Industry Week (Feb. 9, 2021) . The initial items will be introduced this month in a group of states that includes California and Florida, for drinks such as Sprite, Coke, and Diet Coke in 13.2-ounce bottles made from 100% recycled plastic.

The company — which has been named a top plastic polluter by a leading non government organization (NGO) — will soon distribute additional soda and bottled water items from completely recycled packages. The U.S. is the 19th market worldwide where Coca-Cola now sells item entirely made of recycled packaging. The new measures amount to a 20% reduction in the company’s use of new plastic across North America compared to 2018. They will collectively reduce 10,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually in the U.S. – the equivalent of taking 2,120 cars off the road for one year 

Concerns about plastic waste “continue to be top of mind for our consumers,” said Coke’s VP for sustainability, adding that the new steps are “a major milestone in a large and complex market. Introducing 100% recycled PET bottles is a big proof point of how recycling can help create a circular economy.” Coca-Cola has set a target of using at least 50% recycled content  in packaging by 2030.

In 2020, the group Break Free From Plastic placed Coca-Cola, along with PepsiCo and Nestle, as the world’s “top plastic polluters” for the third year in a row and called on the groups to end single-use plastic packaging worldwide.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. How does this move relate to the Triple Bottom Line discussed in Supp. 5 of your text?
  2. Why is plastic waste a major issue?

OM in the News: The Case for the Electric Delivery Van

When you think of electric vehicles, you might think first of a Tesla. But a more financially rewarding use of the technology could be the vans that deliver your online shopping, reports The Wall Street Journal (Jan. 23, 2021).

Until recently, such unassuming vehicles occupied an easily ignored niche within the multitrillion-dollar automotive industry. That is changing fast. Rivian just raised $2.65 billion to fund its rollout of EVs, including a delivery vehicle for Amazon.com, which holds a stake in the startup. And GM just created a new company, BrightDrop, to focus on selling EVs to the delivery market. It expects to ship 500 units to its launch partner, FedEx, this year.

Electric delivery vans operated by DHL in Germany

Electric vans are at the confluence of two big trends. One is the rise of e-commerce at the expense of bricks-and-mortar retail, to which the pandemic has given a boost. The other trend is vehicle electrification. The likes of UPS, DHL and FedEx have all committed to reducing their carbon emissions and need electric delivery trucks to do it. So has Amazon, which ordered 100,000 electric vans from Rivian, the first of them due later this year.

Logistics operators and small contractors are focused on careful cost calculations, including over the lifetime of their vehicles, as we illustrate in Example S2 of Supplement 5 (Sustainability in the Supply Chain). That increases the attractions of EVs, which tend to have low running and maintenance expenses. One reason such calculations are possible is that vans don’t typically need the long driving ranges required of passenger cars. Vans are often driven around cities for predictable distances and can be recharged overnight at depots.

Another advantage of EVs, as Tesla has shown, is the facility with which software can be integrated into their overwhelmingly electronic systems. Unlike Tesla fans, van owners stand to benefit financially from this advantage. Logistics is a data business. The more tools for cost-efficient routing, driving, loading and the like that manufacturers can offer fleet owners, the more business they will attract. 

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of electric vans?
  2. Why are retailers like Amazon investing in these vans?

OM in the News: Manufacturing’s Circular Economy

With a raging pandemic, disrupted supply chains, and a growing scarcity of raw materials, 2021 will present serious challenges to the global manufacturing industry. American Machinist (Jan. 6, 2021)  sees a renewed resolve among manufacturers to focus on sustainability and join the circular economy – the strategic effort to eliminate waste and the maintain a continual use of resources. Manufacturers are approaching the circular economy model by rethinking how they design and produce their products with as little waste as possible, how they ship them, and how they approach the growing after-market repair and recycling market.

The circular economy is putting pressure on companies to reexamine their business processes; not only to improve quality and profitability, but because an efficient supply chain consumes less energy, uses fewer resources, and produces less waste. In short, gearing production toward sustainability is good business.

One example is DyeCoo, a textile company that has partnerships with Nike and IKEA, has developed a water-free process for dyeing. Using highly pressurized, recyclable carbon dioxide instead of water, the company can produce its product in half the time, using a fraction of the energy of traditional methods. Another example is Cambrian Innovation. This U.S. company treats wastewater contaminated by industrial processes, not only turning it into clean water, but even producing biogas that can be used to generate clean energy.

Manufacturers also will need to reengineer, and in some cases reimagine, their products. This means building for longevity in a sustainable business plan. If you are a lighting fixture manufacturer selling light as a service to an airport, you will want to produce lightbulbs to last long as possible, to maximize ‘uptime’ and revenue.

 Manufacturers are also taking serviceability into account in the design phase. Consider Dell and its Latitude laptop computers, which have been designed with recycling in mind. Using removable batteries, standardized fasteners, and by eliminating mercury and adhesives, Dell is able to produce laptops that are 97% recyclable.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. How does Supp. 5 in your Heizer/Render/Munson OM text define “circular economy?”
  2. Provide examples of how product design teams can use alternative materials to improve sustainability.

OM in the News: The Fight for the Eco-Friendly Space

From recycled plastic credit cards to insect-based pet food and biodegradable shoes, sustainable and eco-friendly products have swept across consumer markets in recent years, writes Financial Times (Nov. 28, 2020). In the four years to 2019, only 16% of consumer goods products in the US were marketed for their sustainability, yet they accounted for more than half of the sector’s growth.

This proliferation of a huge range of green and eco-friendly goods has worried regulators and prompted questions about whether sustainability claims are always truthful or clear. “There is a lot of activity but some of it is very superficial and some of the product or packaging claims are actively misleading,” says a Unilever exec. The rise in sustainable goods was prompted both by consumers who want brands that have a strong purpose and by investors.

Worms are turned into a nutrition product for household pets at a facility in France as part of a growing trend for sustainable foodstuffs

At the same time, a generational shift has taken place. An NYU research study found that “the younger the household, the more likely they were to buy sustainability-marketed products.”

As sustainable products have moved into the mainstream, labels and credentials have proliferated. Canada’s Eco Label Index has counted more than 450 certification schemes. The EU said it was “concerned that this surge in demand for green products and services could incentivize some businesses to make misleading, vague or false claims.”

Some popular terms, such as “biodegradable,” lack widely accepted definitions, while others can be misleading. One example is packaging that is “recyclable” but requires specific local facilities that are not always available. A growing number of products claim to be made from recycled “ocean plastic,” even though no system exists to remove plastic waste from the sea at scale.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. What OM functions are involved in meeting sustainability goals?
  2. What does the term “corporate social responsibility” mean in relation to this article? (Hint: see p. 194 in your Heizer/Render/Munson text)

OM in the News: J and J’s Circular Supply Chain for Packaging

Converting bottles to recycled plastic. Redesigning baby lotion bottles to ditch the pump. Swapping out the black Listerine cap for a clear resin one. Reducing the dimensions of cartons holding Carefree pads to use less paper. Johnson & Johnson’s goal is to use 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable plastic packaging, and recycled paper and pulp-based packaging by 2025, reports Supply Chain Dive (Oct. 13, 2020) .

The company will spend $800 million to make these packaging changes in an effort to convert its consumer health products packaging to sustainable options. To make a package fully recyclable, every part must be recyclable, including the label. (Some bottles use a label which can cause recycling issues). The packaging should also be compatible with the recycling process, likely a reason J&J is looking to remove the pump from some products. The pump needs to be discarded before recycling the bottles, and not all consumers do this.

J&J is planning to change Listerine’s black cap for a clear resin one, because clear plastic can be reprocessed into more forms than black plastic.

But sustainability isn’t the only consideration in packaging. The packaging has to be functional. There’s a greater issue if the packaging causes product damage in an effort to use more sustainable packaging materials. Plastic color can also change to generate higher recovery values.

Instantly reducing supply chain waste starts with using less material. Package optimization testing can help determine the least amount of material needed to effectively ship products. Looking at the carbon footprint is also part of the sustainability process. Usually, the less material used, the lower the carbon footprint.

These efforts all support the circular economy that we describe in Supp.5, “Sustainability in the Supply Chain” on pages 197-200.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. Select three products and evaluate their packaging. How could it be more sustainable?
  2. How have hotels become more sustainable conscience?

OM in the News: The Secret to Affordable Electric Cars?

Melting down batteries for recycling is difficult and sometimes hazardous work.

The cost of batteries has long been the biggest obstacle to making electric cars affordable for the masses, reports The Wall Street Journal (Aug. 29-30, 2020). As a result, electric vehicles still carry a hefty $12,000 average price premium compared with gas engine cars.

Since 50% to 75% of the cost of a battery for the industry now lies with its raw material, Redwood Materials, in Carson City, Nevada, sees potential for recycling to lower costs. Almost every day old iPhones and other used personal electronics arrive by the truckload at Redwood, where workers crack them open, pull out their batteries and strip them for raw materials. The firm believes refuse holds the key to driving the electric car revolution forward—and making the vehicles affordable enough for everyone to own one. (Another source is the supply of used EV batteries, which is exploding. Half-a-million EVs are expected to be scrapped in 2025).

For most battery manufacturers, where to find all the nickel, cobalt and lithium needed to make the batteries that power Tesla’s cars and their growing list of rivals is the number one problem. Extracting those materials from nature, through mining and other processes, is costly and difficult, and production is lagging far behind expected demand.

Redwood Materials’ tack is to quietly build the biggest car battery-recycling operation in the U.S., betting that it can perfect a fast and efficient way of collecting and repurposing those materials to disrupt the centuries-old mining industry. “Forever, the entire market has been dictated by the commodity price of these metals,” said Redwood’s CEO. “It is work that is essential if the industry is going to continue to increase production of electric cars at the pace companies are planning.”

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. When federal subsidies end, will demand for EVs remain high?
  2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of recycling vs. mining for raw materials?

OM in the News: Sustainability Goes Mainstream

Expired yogurt. Cardboard cartons. Pallets and plastic jugs. Wilted lettuce. Steel drums. Is it ecologically sound policy to send multiple trucks to transport waste products for separate recycling and diversion, when one dump truck could haul it all away? This is just one question companies face when trying to improve sustainability and in some cases reach carbon neutrality, the topic of Supplement 5.

Companies are increasingly cognizant that consumers and investors are watching their actions to reduce emissions– and realize their pledges have other positive impacts, including financial ones. Instead of sending tons of material to landfill, companies are identifying their waste streams with economic value and sending those materials to recycling facilities, writes Supply Chain Dive (July 21, 2020). Firms can calculate the carbon footprint involved with waste and landfill and see if diversion would yield additional savings.

Consumer sentiment now makes waste reduction a priority. “It’s becoming more prevalent; 30-40 years ago, nobody cared,” said one industry exec. (We recommend showing our video case study: “Green Manufacturing and Sustainability at Frito-Lay” to make this point).

In the U.S., over 30 million tons of food goes to the landfill– about 75% of total food waste, comprising 22% of municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill. Almost 7.5 million tons of food waste is converted to energy through combustion of MSW, and 2.57 million tons is composted. Materials like cardboard and plastics have resale value, and businesses are relatively disciplined about recycling these, due to the economic incentives and sustainability goals. Metal has the highest impact in recycling, given its value. It takes 75% less energy to make a steel product with recycled steel versus with virgin steel, and 95% less energy to make aluminum cans with recycled aluminum.

Companies can calculate emissions using the EPA’s Waste Reduction Model, a reporting tool for baseline and ongoing greenhouse gas emissions.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. What does the Triple Bottom Line mean?
  2. What forces during the pandemic are working against increased sustainability efforts?