Chapter 3: Aligning Sustainability and Business Value

Talking about LEDs saving weight and energy is interesting until you have to have a truck/car head lamp assembly that needs to be replaced because the chip went bad and a $1700 module is needed instead of a $10.99 LED light bulb from the local auto parts store. This recently happen to my friends. Thankfully it was before they bought the truck and the dealer had to fix it and they didn't have to absorb the cost.

At home we try use the 3 R's (Reduce [probably most hard in a consumer based society], Reuse, Recycle). We also compost as much as we can. Eventually you get to the point: "Is the juice worth the squeeze?"

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-How can decarbonization and circularity be profitable for manufacturers?   

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As mentioned in the book, emitting carbon costs money.  Finding less energy intense processes often saves money.  That could be using recycled materials that require less energy to processes, upgrading processing equipment for efficiency, or choosing suppliers locally to reduce transportation.

Circularity improvements are often more difficult.  Recyling is at the bottom of the pyramid and not a direct savings.  By providing content that can be easily recycled a manufacturer can benefit from selling to environmentally conscious consumers/buyers who want to be able to recycle the product after it's usable life.  They will also indirectly benefit from reduced costs due to the increased recycled material availability.  Moving up the pyramid, remanufacture is possible on products with a more durable "frame", refurbish is possible when most of the product is durable, and reuse/redistribute is available when the product is still usable after the original owner is done with it and someone else can use it for the same or similar purpose.

On the job, we add material identification to many of our parts for recycling purposes.  We also ensure that wear items are easily replaced by the end user and supply the replacement parts.