The quest for sustainability is transforming the competitive landscape. Sustainability is driving innovation and profitability here are a few examples.

Profit Centres from Returns and Waste

Product returns typically reduce enterprise profitability by 4%, so turning returns into product can turn a cost centre into a profit centre while reducing environmental waste. Originally Cisco turned used equipment that it received as scrap and recycled it at a cost of $ 8 million a year. As part of its “greening” initiatives, the company formed a value-recovery team that designated the recycling group as business unit, set clear objectives and a profit and loss account. Today the unit is a profit centre. It contributed $ 100 million to Cisco’s bottom-line in 2008 by increasing equipment reuse from 5% to 45% and reducing recycling costs by 40%.

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Significant Payback on Small Projects

VeriForm Inc., a small precision sheet metal and plate fabricating service company, invested $46,186 in over 42 individual energy saving projects between 2006 and 2008 and reduced annual operating costs by $89,152, with expectations to save over $1.42 million dollars over the next 10 years. The return on investment for the average energy savings project was just 6.3 months and some projects paid for themselves in just 1.5 weeks. At the same time VeriForm reduced its greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 233 tonnes per year, an equivalent to more than 10,000 trees absorbing carbon dioxide annually.

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New Green Products Grow the Top-Line

When Clorox learned that household cleaning products were the second biggest environmental concern after automobiles, it decided to become one of the first mainstream consumer products companies to launch a line of non-synthetic cleaning products. Using the EPA's "Design for the Environment" safety standards and partnering with the Sierra Club the company grew the natural cleaners market in the U.S. by 100% and enjoyed a 40% share of the $ 200 million market by the end of 2008.

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