Since the industrial revolution, businesses have created massive amounts of waste. That approach worked when only a few countries manufactured products and the globe's resources appeared to be infinite. Now, however, countries from Brazil to India are industrialising rapidly. Add a global population of 9 billion in 2050, and a world of depleted energy, minerals, and forests and the scenario becomes frightening.
Companies now realise that they simply cannot be the conduit between raw materials and consumers. Smart companies – particularly those in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) sector – are the ones that evaluate their products' impact from raw materials sourcing to consumption and disposal. The traditional supplier-manufacturer relationship will fade as constraints on natural resources force businesses to look at their products' entire lifecycleto find cost savings or the development of new revenue streams, or both.
Such systems, referred to as "closed loop" or cradle-to-cradle, share the goal that materials – including metal, paper, plastic, and even food – are recycled or find their way back into the natural environment. Examples of these processes exist in many industries. An onion farm on the California coast turns its waste into energy. The office furniture company Herman Miller uses materials that can be recycled or composted. Even Rungis, Paris's largest wholesale market, avoids sending waste to landfill and uses it to fuel its operations and the part of the energy needs of Orly airport. Many companies on both sides of the Atlantic have found success from implementing cradle-to-cradle systems with plastic and paper materials. A true closed-loop system in which materials are reused indefinitely is not yet a reality, but could be within a few years.
One cradle-to-cradle leader is DSM, the Dutch plastic giant which employs 21,000 people around the world and exceeded revenues of €8.1bn (£7.2bn) in 2010. It has developed cradle-to-cradle systems since 2008, actively working with McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC), the consultancy that awards cradle-to-cradle certifications to businesses. DSM received these certifications for several of its products, including Arnitel and Akulon, plastics that can be used for moulding various products – from automobile components to engineering devices. The company worked with suppliers and MBDC to develop programmes that would allow its plastics to be recycled with minimal effects on quality.
DSM gained two major benefits from implementing cradle-to-cradle processes. First, it was able to carry a powerful motivational message by minimising its effect on the environment, inspiring both employees and suppliers to work on more sustainable products and designs. Second, the focus on closed loop systems led to more product innovation. Meanwhile, a new focus on reducing costs embedded itself throughout the organisation. Rather than considering the cost of an initial investment, the total price of ownership, including maintenance and disposal, was included on the ledger sheet. This rethinking led to DSM's development of new ways to create value, such as collection systems and logistical services – not just as a plastics and polymers manufacturer.
The US Postal Service (USPS) has become a waste diversion model for its cradle-to-cradle innovations in paper products. With over 700 million priority and express envelopes and packages sent annually, the USPS is the only global courier service to make significant progress towards a closed loop system. USPS mailers are all made from recycled materials. The USPS assessed over 200 suppliers for their products' effects on human and environmental health, and it scrutinised 1,400 individual ingredients for their toxicity. The service even has stamps that are considered cradle-to-cradle. Collectively these initiatives prevent more than 15,000 metric tons of carbon from being emitted into the atmosphere every year.
Despite the intensive research and advocacy of many of the world's largest companies, MBDC has not yet awarded the highest cradle-to-cradle level, platinum, to any product. The platinum level would be a true closed loop system with a high materials recovery score and with 100% of its manufacturing coming from renewable energy sources. That day, however, is not far off – expect the one-two punch of product innovation and rising energy prices to push a leading company over that finishing line.
Leon Kaye is founder and editor of GreenGoPost.com